


The Learning Of

by ChibiKarasu54



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst and Humor, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Yaoi, aokaga - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-04
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-16 03:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 48,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2253933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiKarasu54/pseuds/ChibiKarasu54
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By some weird twist of fate, Kagami Taiga is turned into a five year old. Now, the Generation of Miracles, plus Seirin, must ban together in order to ensure the safety of one little tiger. But along the way of raising the miniature Kagami, they find out that there is more to that basket-baka than previously perceived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters.
> 
>  
> 
> A/N: I fell in love with this anime the moment I saw Kagami’s weird eyebrows. AoKaga has been my OTP for a while now, and I couldn’t resist the urge to write something about them. So, here I am, beginning my first fanfiction. Go easy on me.

**Chapter One**

 

Kuroko Tetsuya was currently shooting some hoops, or at least attempting to, in Seirin's gym. Practice had been over for half an hour now but Kuroko, being the over achiever that he is, stayed behind to get in some extra practice. He's been doing nonstop shots and was starting to feel a bit dehydrated.

Shooting the ball for one last time, and missing terribly, Kuroko proceeded to go to the vending machine to buy a sports drink. Once there, he inserted the correct amount of coins and chose his drink. While bending down to retrieve the beverage, he heard the tapping of slightly fast paced footsteps heading his way.

Straightening back up, Kuroko looked up to see Seirin's ace, sweaty and bent over, panting like his life depended on it.

"Hello Kagami-kun."

With a start, Kagami jumped a few inches off the ground, startled by his sudden greeting.

"Dammit Kuroko! How many times have I told you to stop doing that??!! And how long have you been here anyway?!!"

Kuroko only stared emotionlessly at the flustered red head.

"I've been here since before you, Kagami-kun. You're the one that just got here."

Looking a bit ticked, Kagami 'tskd' and started rummaging in the pockets of his basketball shorts. After a few minutes of fruitless search, Kagami raised his gaze to Kuroko and asked,

"Hey, do you happen to have any spare change? I left my wallet at home and I've been jogging for a while now, and I feel like I'm about to pass out if I don't drink something soon."

Observing how his light was still slightly panting and was starting to sag a little, along with drooping eyelids, Kuroko concluded that yes, Kagami was indeed about to pass out.

Sighing, he held out his drink and offered it to the taller male. Kagami looked at the offered drink then back at Kuroko's expressionless eyes, and refused the drink by shaking his head.

"No no, it's fine if you don't have any spare change. You don't have to give me your drink, I'm sure I can hold out a little longer."

Kuroko sighed again, this time with a hint of fondness and exasperation. _'Kagami-kun, so selfless, as always.'_

"You can have it, Kagami-kun. I'm not as thirsty as you."

"No, it's fine. You already bought it, you keep it."

"I'm not the one on the verge of passing out."

Grimacing a little at his own words being used on him, he tried to protest once again,

"But—"

"Just take it, Kagami-kun."

Knowing that there was no point in arguing with Kuroko anymore, since he was almost as stubborn as himself, he reluctantly accepted the offered drink, but not without having at least a little say in it.

"Fine, but I'm paying you back the amount of money you spent on this."

Accepting that that was the only way to ensure that Kagami would drink the beverage before he passed out, Kuroko simply nodded in agreement.

Nodding his own head once in conformation, Kagami proceeded to open his drink and chug down all the liquid inside the container, not even pausing to breathe a little. Once the bottle was emptied, Kagami swallowed the last of it and took a deep breath.

"Thanks Kuroko, I owe you one."

"You’re welcome, Kagami-kun."

They started to slowly walk away from school and made their way towards their homes' general direction.

After finally controlling his breathing, Kagami took notice of this strange taste in his mouth. It wasn't unpleasant, per say, but it wasn't a taste he liked to have in his mouth either. Clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth to try and get rid of the taste didn't seem to work. Getting annoyed pretty easily, Kagami asked in a miffed tone,

"Oi Kuroko, what the hell type of flavor did you choose?"

Kuroko, having been observing his friend's grimacing face and wondering what was bothering him, answered,

"I chose the blueberry flavor."

"Blueberry?"

"Yes. Was it not to your liking?"

After wiggling his tongue a little in a silly attempt to get rid of the taste, Kagami said, "It's not that it tasted bad or anything, but it left this weird after taste. A little rancid."

Kuroko asked for the bottle and Kagami handed it to him. He carefully read the ingredients and looked out for the date the drink was supposed to expire on. Everything seemed in order and nothing looked suspicious. Having come to a reasonable conclusion, Kuroko voiced out his thoughts,

"Nothing seems wrong with the drink, maybe you just don— Kagami-kun? Are you alright?"

Concern laced his voice when he stopped to see his teammate collapsed on the middle of the sidewalk. He rushed to the red head, who was currently in fetal position, and placed a hand on his shoulder, lightly shaking it.

"Kagami-kun? What happened? What's wrong? Talk to me."

His only response was a groan that was laced with pain and Kagami tightening into a ball, clutching his stomach tightly.

Getting a bit desperate after witnessing his friends' obvious pain, Kuroko gingerly turned Kagami so that he was lying on his back, still holding on to his stomach. Kagami let out a low grunt, signaling his discomfort. Quickly scanning the taller male's body for any signs of injury, he found none, so he raised his hand to Kagami's cheek and lightly tapped it in order to get his attention. Red lashes fluttered open in response and pain glazed eyes stared dazedly back at him.

"Kagami-kun, can you hear me?"

"Ngghh"

"I'll take that as a yes. Now, can you tell me what's wrong with your stomach?"

At the mention of the word stomach, Kagami moaned despairingly, as if the word itself inflicted physical pain upon him.

"I take it it hurts."

Even through the haze of pain, Kagami managed to give him a weak glare to his Captain Obvious remark.

Stifling a smile at his light's antics, Kuroko tried removing Kagami's grip on his stomach, which was nearly impossible since he had it in a vice like hold. As Kagami was stronger than Kuroko, it proved to be ten times more difficult. After tugging and pulling for at least two minutes, Kuroko finally managed to remove Kagami's hands, sweating and panting slightly at the exertion. He composed himself and once again scanned his friends' body, this time focusing on his stomach. Not being able to completely see, Kuroko carefully lifted Kagami's black shirt and glanced at the clenching and unclenching muscles of his abdomen. Nothing seemed out of place and Kuroko could only come to the conclusion that the drink must've done it.

"Kagami-kun, I believe you have food poisoning."

Feeling like he needed to say something, Kagami grit out, "If this was just food poisoning, I wouldn't be in this much pain," heavy panting ,"don't you think I've gotten food poisoning before, considering the amount of food I eat?"

Kuroko pondered on this and decided that the red head had a point.

"Should I take you to a hospital then?"

Feeling like the answer was quite obvious, he started with no low amount of sarcasm, "Well, seeing as I'm in an immense amount of pain right now, I'd say—"

But before he could even finish his biting remark, a new wave a pain coursed through his body, this one being the most excruciating of all. He couldn't contain the short shout that left his throat. His vision went white for a moment and his body trembled with the strain.

Kuroko's eyes widened in alarm when he saw how seemingly out of nowhere, his friends' pain turned into agony, leaving him trembling and whimpering. He reached out to get a grip on the red heads' shoulder, but before he could even touch him, a blinding light seemed to engulf Kagami.

Startled, Kuroko jumped slightly backwards and landed on his bottom, squinting his eyes against the bright light and trying to see beyond it and to his friend.

What he saw left him baffled.

Kagami's body was literally _shrinking_. You could see his arms and legs getting shorter, and his mid body getting thinner and smaller. His body shrank so much, that by the time the light subsided, his smaller body was engulfed in his clothes.

Still uncomprehending and quite disbelieving as to what just happened; Kuroko slowly got up and shuffled closer to the bundle of clothes. He warily knelt down and with shaking hands, slowly opened the Seirin Basketball team issued sweater. The sight that greeted him confirmed that, yes, Kagami did indeed shrink, and _no_ , he was _not_ losing his mind.

There, in all his chibbified glory, laid a sleeping miniature sized Kagami Taiga.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So here's the second installment to my new story. I read all of you guy’s reviews, and I gotta say I'm feeling encouraged. This is my first fanfic and all, so thanks for all the praise and support.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

Kuroko blankly stared at this new found Kagami for about two minutes straight. He promptly had a mental freak out.

 _'Why did this happen?_ How _did this happen?!'_

Not knowing what to do, but not about to leave Kagami lying on the sidewalk either, Kuroko carefully wrapped little Kagami in his now oversized clothes. He gently picked him up and proceeded to carry Kagami in his arms.

_'Now, what to do?'_

He obviously couldn't just drop off Kagami-kun in his apartment, and it wasn't like Kagami had his parents with him to take care of him.

Maybe he should call Seirin?

Yes, that was the best option. He couldn't take Kagami-kun to his home without his parents questioning why he had what looked like a five year old kid with him.

Shifting the bundle in his arms, Kuroko grabbed his phone and dialed Coach's number. After ringing for a few seconds, the phone was answered,

 _"Kuroko-kun, why are you calling at this late hour? Do you_ want _me to put you in a crab hold?"_ The deadly sweet tone of his coach had Kuroko shudder almost unnoticeably. Nevertheless, he said with as much seriousness as he could convey,

"Coach, it's an emergency. I wouldn't be bothering you at this hour otherwise, I assure you."

Noting how Kuroko's voice sounded more serious than usual, Seirin's coach worriedly asked, _"Is everything alright, Kuroko-kun? What happened?"_

Not wanting to talk about this odd, yet serious, matter over the phone, Kuroko replied, "I'm afraid the situation is too complicated to explain over the phone. Please call the rest of the team and tell them to head to Kagami-kun's apartment. We will discuss matters there."

 _"Did...something happen to Kagami-kun?"_ She asked warily.

"It's no easy matter to explain. Please arrive to Kagami-kun's apartment as soon as you are able to."

Not receiving the answers she wanted, Riko hurriedly agreed and hanged up with a promise to round up all the guys and head to Kagami's ASAP.

* * *

 

When Seirin barged into Kagami's apartment, almost falling all over each other in the process, they expected to find an injured Kagami; they expected to see him clutching his legs, proclaiming he couldn't play basketball anymore. They even expected to hear some form of horrible news involving Kagami moving back to America. What they definitely _didn't_ expect to be greeted by was a sleeping child with a striking resemblance to their Ace, his head being pillowed by Kuroko's thigh while the rest of his body was resting on the couch.

Hyūga, immediately thinking of the worst possible scenario involving the child, Kagami, and some unknown woman, proclaimed angrily, "Don't tell me this Bakagami knocked up a woman and is now left with the child!!"

Kuroko looked slightly bemused at the accusation and was about to protest such nonsense, (because Kagami-kun isn't like that, and if anything he was an angel) when the whole team of Seirin burst into hysterics.

"Kagami, you despicable man!!"

"How did _Kagami_ get a girlfriend before _I_ did?!!"

"Who's the lucky girl that _luck_ ed out, Kagami?"

"Izuki, shut up."

"Kagami's all grown up now! ~"

"Bakagami!! I knew you were stupid, but not _this_ stupid!"

"..." (Mitobe)

Kuroko sighed silently at his teams antics. Really, he should've known something like this was going to take place. It was almost predictable.

Suddenly, he noticed the child in his lap started squirming. It seemed that the rest of the team had noticed this also, because the loud exclamations from before have now quieted down to a low murmur. They quickly and quietly crowded around the couch and observed the waking child with rapt attention.

Red lashes fluttered lightly until lids slid up and revealed dazzling crimson eyes, startling similar to his (presumed) fathers'. The eyes in question looked around confusedly, trying to comprehend where he was. He then took notice of the many set of eyes watching him weirdly. He fidgeted in place, feeling on edge while being stared at so intensely. He had a feeling he was supposed to know these people, but for the life of him he couldn't name any faces.

Finally, he asked hesitantly with a tiny voice, "W-who are you people?"

At the inquiry, Kuroko sharpened his gaze on Kagami. _'He doesn't recognize us...?'_

About to reply, he was interrupted, yet again, by Hyūga, "We're the people who’re going to beat up your tousan, that's who we are!!!!" He exclaimed quite loudly, startling the child so badly that he sat up quickly and scoot backwards rapidly in one quick motion, accidentally bumping into someone that he _swears_ wasn't there before. Turning his head to glance behind his shoulder, he hurriedly apologized,

"Sorry, my bad, I didn't notice you there..."

Kagami's sentence trailed off when he got a good look at the person he bumped into. The fair skin tone and pale blue hair and eyes seemed really familiar. He knew those eyes, he knew he did. He wasn't sure how to explain how he was so sure he knew this person, he just did.

Kuroko, for his part, was mentally questioning why Kagami-kun seemed to not know who they are. Was it a side effect to whatever happened to him earlier? Suddenly, a jarring thought made itself known,

_'He doesn't...remember me?'_

That little question ignited a plethora of negative emotions.

Kagami-kun is one of his most precious friends. In fact, he's his _best_ friend. If he hadn't met Kagami-kun, he would've never had a chance against the Generation of Miracles. Kagami-kun never gave up on him and always believed in him. He changed the Miracles for the better, and humbled them enough for the pride filled men to play with their teams and not individually. (Well except for Aomine. He will always stay the same.) The point being, if Kagami-kun doesn't remember him, his Shadow, he doesn't know what he's going to do with himse—

"Ku...roko?"

The hesitantly spoken name came out of trembling lips. At the mention of his name, Kuroko once again returned his attention to mini Kagami, all thoughts of despair exiting his mind completely, and leaving behind such huge feeling of relief that he almost let out a chuckle. Looking at the child that had uttered his name, he replied back,

"Yes, Kagami-kun?"

Chibi Kagami's eyes widened at that. "So I was right!! You _are_ Kuroko! 'Cause I thought you looked familiar with the blue hair and stuff, I mean, who else would have blue hair, right?"

Kuroko's eye twitched at the tone in which that was said. But he couldn't stay aggravated for long, because seeing Kagami like this, mindlessly talking while making random hand gestures to go with what he's saying, was a completely new side of him that he hadn't seen before. But he couldn't remain marveled forever; he needed to ask some questions.

"Kagami-kun," he cut in. Kagami immediately stopped talking and looked back at Kuroko, rubbing the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry! I've been told I talk a lot."

Kuroko smiled slightly and replied, "It's alright. But Kagami-kun, answer me something."

Kagami looked up with questioning eyes, "Yeah?"

Kuroko gestured with his arm at the whole of Seirin, who have been keeping uncharacteristically silent during the exchange, and asked, "Do you recognize anyone else?"

Kagami glanced at the rest of the people behind him, crossed his arms, and gave them a speculating look.

"Hmmm... I'm not sure. I think I know that the glasses guy collects dolls, and that the tall guy over there is really goofy. And that the guy in the middle has really lame jokes."

Izuki looked a little put off that his awesome puns were labeled as lame, Kiyoshi didn't seem bothered at being called goofy, and Hyūga fumed that his historical figures were called _dolls_. They're figurines!

"Anyone else you might know?" Kuroko prodded.

"Uhh, that guy," Kagami pointed at Mitobe, "doesn't talk, right?" He looked at Kuroko for confirmation and Kuroko nodded.Kagami then looked at Riko.

"Oh!" Kagami slammed a fist to his open palm and exclaimed, "The girl with the small chest is _reeaalllllyyy_ scary!"

All noise was stopped and everyone in the room, besides Kagami, stiffened and sent horrified looks between their (evilly) smiling coach and the pleased looking little redhead.

Kuroko sighed at that. _'Really Kagami-kun. Even in this state, you're still tactless.'_

Before things could get ugly (Riko's eyebrows were twitching and she was readying for the blow) Kuroko announced, "Everyone, please stop and listen to what I'm about to say."

That seemed to be enough for everyone to pay attention, since when Kuroko speaks he usually has something important to say.

Kuroko took a deep breath and let out, "This child here," he motioned to the oblivious redhead, "is Kagami-kun."

Koganei then said, "Well, yeah, since his dad is Kagami, then that'll make him a Kagami too."

Kuroko shook his head in a 'no' motion and rebutted, "No, what I'm saying is that he is Kagami-kun. Our teams' Ace."

"...."

 _'Here it comes...'_ Kuroko thought, bracing for the impact.

"HHhAAA?!!!"

The loud exclamation came from everyone, all looking like they couldn't believe what they have just been told, which was understandable.

"What are you saying, Kuroko?!!"

"Is this a joke?"

"Really? That's Kagami? How cute~"

Smack.

"Oww! Why did you hit me, Hyūga??!"

"Don't go believing everything you hear, baka!"

"Hey, can I touch him?"

"He's not a pet, Tsuchida!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP! OR I'LL HAVE YOU ALL DO QUADRUPLE DRILLS FOR THE NEXT MONTH!!"

That had them nice and quiet in no time. Riko only shook her head and turned back to Kuroko.

"Can you please explain what you mean by that, Kuroko-kun?"

Kuroko nodded and proceeded to tell him how he was practicing after school and then met up with Kagami-kun. That then he gave him his drink because Kagami-kun was about to pass out, and that it supposedly tasted weird. That on the way home Kagami suddenly dropped and looked to be in a great deal of pain, and how he was then surrounded by that mysterious bright light, and that by the time the light subsided, Kagami had been left behind as how he is now.

There was a contemplative silence after that, everyone trying to let it sink in. Then,

"So...can someone buy me a burger? I'm starving."

"That's definitely Kagami." They all deadpanned.

* * *

 

After getting over the shock that the little redhead is indeed Kagami, they all went out to the nearest Maji Burger.

They all piled up on one of the largest tables, getting extra chairs from other tables so that they can all fit. By the time everyone had sat down with their food, Kagami was already on his third burger. Everyone just stared, not even shocked anymore at the amount of food he could consume, even if he did revert a few years.

"So Kagami," Izuki started, "do you know how old you are?"

After swallowing down the food in his throat Kagami replied enthusiastically, "I'm five years old!!" He held up his right hand and wiggled his fingers; as if to prove that he was in fact a five year old.

Kiyoshi then asked, "You don't who we are then?"

"Um, well, it's like I know I know you guys, but don't really _know_ you, you know?" Kagami explained as best as he could, not knowing enough vocabulary to properly articulate what he wanted to say.

They all stared blankly at the five year old language they have just been subjected to.

"Hey wait! How come you remembered who Kuroko was and not anyone else?" Koganei proclaimed accusingly.

Everyone looked at Kagami, also wanting to know why he remembered only Kuroko.

"Uhh... I just knew?" Kagami's reply was more of a question than anything; he himself not knowing how he knew who Kuroko was from the very beginning.

Koganei opened his mouth to hound Kagami a bit more when Kagami continued to elaborate, "It's sorta like a feeling. I feel like I'm closer to him than with you guys. It's like he's my best friend!"

No one knew how to feel about that, because they all knew that that was the truth. Kagami was closest with Kuroko and vice versa.

Kuroko smiled a small unnoticeable smile, feeling a bit warm inside in knowing that Kagami returned his sentiment. In that moment he felt like thanking Kagami a million times over for existing. Instead he said,

"You're my best friend too, Kagami-kun."

Kagami's eyes brightened to an incredible shade of scarlet at that, his whole face morphing into one of genuine happiness, his blinding smile radiating joy.

All of Seirin couldn't stop the small blushes from appearing on their faces. Kagami never smiled like that, unless they had just won an incredibly hard game. Off court he stuck with grins, sneers, or smirks. This was an expression they were rarely witness to.

Riko coughed a little, trying to stop the squeal that was threatening to spill out. In turn, that caused everyone else to turn to look at her. She cleared her throat awkwardly and said, "W-well, since it looks like you're not remembering the rest of our names anytime soon, I'll reintroduce ourselves."

She stood up from her chair and dramatically pointed to Hyūga first, "Our teams’ Captain and Shooting Guard, Clutch Time Hyūga Junpei!!" Hyūga stood up and shot a hamburger wrapper into the trash can a few tables away, making it in perfectly. He looked back with an arrogant smirk, popping his neck purposely.

"Whoa!" Kagami awed at this, clapping enthusiastically all the while.

"Next we have our Point Guard! Always keeps his cool and has an arsenal of lame puns, Eagle Eye Izuki Shun!" Izuki straightened up in his seat and cleared his throat, "Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all _right_ now."

"Izuki, go buy a milkshake and don't come back."

Kagami sweat dropped at this, chuckling nervously.

"Never knows when to give up and always lighthearted, our Center, the Iron Heart Kiyoshi Teppei!" Kiyoshi tugged Kagami to him and gave him a bear hug, saying all the while, "You can call me Cool Uncle Kiyoshi now, Chibi Kagami."

Kagami struggled, trying to get out of the choke hold he was in. Finally, he got released and took a deep breath and splayed his upper half all over the table. "I almost died!" He proclaimed breathlessly.

Kiyoshi took on a serious face and said, "Kagami, don't be ridiculous. You can't die from a hug."

"That's not the point!" Kagami exclaimed angrily.

"There's a point?" Kiyoshi questioned with a confused face.

Kagami face palmed, deciding it wasn't worth. Besides, he couldn't stay mad at this Kiyoshi guy. He seemed like a nice guy, despite almost choking him to death.

Riko once again cleared her throat to get Kagami's attention back. When she had it she continued, "Anyways, up next is a hardworking and diligent player, no one's ever heard his voice, Hook Shooter Mitobe Rinnosuke!" Mitobe only smiled and nodded his head at mini Kagami. Kagami smiled back, albeit more widely.

"Here we have Koganei Shinji, can do nothing and anything at the same time, a Jack of all Trades!" Koganei deflated at this, already having taken a superhero pose.

"So mean..." He murmured, crocodile tears running down his cheeks.

Kagami giggled, finding it funny how teary the other looked.

"Tsuchida Satoshi! Good at defense and the only one of these losers to have a girlfriend!" Tsuchida smiled and waved, earning an enthusiastic wave back.

"And last but not least, our bench players and first years, Furihata Kōki, Fukuda Hiroshi, and Kawahara Kōichi!!"

"It's very nice to re-meet you!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"It's awesome to meet you guys too!" Kagami said back excitedly.

Riko then pointed to herself, "I'm Seirin's coach and manager, Aida Riko. These are the people who our team is made up of—"

"Hey wait! Introduce Kuroko too! It's not fair that everyone else got a proper introduction and he didn't!" Kagami proclaimed, pouting cutely with his arms crossed and odd eyebrows scrunched up.

Unable to resist it this time, Riko squealed loudly and launched herself forward, intending to glomp Chibi Kagami. Kagami, for his part, saw a crazy woman about to attack him and started hastily backing away. But it seemed his efforts were fruitless, for Riko already had him in his arms and squeezing him to her chest with all her might, gushing about how adorable Bakagami was when he was little or something along those lines.

Kagami waved his arms frantically and was internally calling for help when another set of hands gently pried Riko's arms away from him and lifted him off of the Beast Woman, as he now dubbed her.

Kuroko extracted a flailing Kagami out of his Coach's death grip and settled him at his lap.

"I don't think Kagami-kun enjoys being stripped from air two times in a row."

"Ahh, right. Heh, sorry Kagami-kun, you just looked too adorable." Riko explained sheepishly.

"I'm not cute!" Mini Kagami protested indignantly, once again displaying that adorable pout. This kind of defeated the purpose of his statement.

Kuroko had to mentally rebut that. _'Kagami-kun is definitely cute when he does that.'_

"By the way, do any of you guys know where my mom is at?"

That had Seirin sober up a bit. They weren't sure how to explain that his mother was currently at the other side of the world, probably thinking that her son was still a fifteen year old and not five years old.

"Well, you see, you're in Japan right now and your mom is in America." Koganei, that brave soul, answered.

"America?" Kagami looked confused. "Where's that at? Is it far away?"

Koganei nodded sagely, "Very far away. In fact, it's so far away that an entire ocean separates you from her."

"Separates...?" Kagami said despairingly. Tears started gathering in his eyes and he started sniffling.

"Aho! Why would you tell a five year old that his mom is nowhere near him?!!" Hyūga murmured angrily to Koganei while giving him a harsh smack to the back of the head. Koganei didn't even protest the abuse, looking guilty that he made a kid cry, even if the kid was Kagami.

Everyone started panicking when Kagami started letting out small hiccupping sobs.

"I-I don't want to be separated from Kaasan! She's my only mom!" Kagami sobbed out.

Kuroko gently petted Kagami's head, trying to get him to calm down. It didn't seem to be working much.

"Kagami, c-calm down. Koganei didn't mean it like that—" Hyūga tried to soothe, but was interrupted by a babbling Kagami.

"A-and I don't have any more family! It's just me and my Kaasan and Flamey, our cat! Please don't let me and Kaasan be separated!"

Everyone wondered at that. Kagami only had a mom?

"Kagami-kun, where's your dad?" Kuroko inquired, unable to keep his curiosity at bay. Kagami calmed down slightly to answer the question. "Kaasan says that tousan was a 'good for nothin' bum'. I don't know what that means, but every time after she says that, she says very bad words and tells me not to repeat 'em."

They all looked at Kagami with varying expressions. They didn't know what to do with this newly released piece of information on their ace. Now that they think about it, what do they really know about Kagami? He's a basuke-baka, eats tremendous amounts of food, knows how to cook, lived in America, and now lives alone in a nice apartment. Was that really all there was to Kagami? Having heard this part of Kagami's past, they were forced to shift their current view of him.

Hearing this, Kuroko now had a lot of questions to ask his friend. What else is Kagami-kun hiding? He supposes that right now might be the ideal time to ask, when Kagami-kun is willing to lay bare all of his secrets. But that's a violation to the trust that is between them. He could never break that trust, not if it meant losing his friend forever.

Instead, he decided calming the weeping Kagami was his main priority right now. Questions can come later.

He shifted Kagami in his lap so that now his face was facing Kuroko's chest. He then led Kagami's head to his shoulder and rubbed calming circles on his back, all the while soothingly assuring him that, "It's alright Kagami-kun, you won't be separated from your mother forever."

Kagami looked up and sniffled. He wiped his face with the oversized t-shirt that he was wearing, rubbing off the tears. "I won't be separated from Kaasan for long?" His voice was wobbly, hitching slightly at the word 'separated'.

Kuroko affirmed his question with a reassuring shake of his head.

"How do you know? Did Kaasan tell you something?" Kagami asked suspiciously.

"Yes, actually. She told me that we are to take care of you for a while. She said that Flamey got sick so she's taking him to a very good doctor in America. She will be back." Kuroko had to tell a little white lie. He couldn't have a depressed Kagami-kun with him for whatever amount of time this age reversion will last.

"You're sure?"

"Completely."

That seemed to be enough to calm down Kagami. His tears stopped and his hiccups subsided. In their place, a blinding smile let itself known. "Okay! If it's for Flamey's sake, then I can wait a few days."

The rest of Seirin let out a sigh of relief, quite awed at the way Kuroko handled a crying child.

"So you guys, what exactly are we going to do about this?" Izuki questioned, making vague hand motions towards Kagami.

"Actually, I know where to start on getting Kagami-kun back to normal." Kuroko voiced out.

"What do you have in mind, Kuroko-kun?" Riko asked.

"Firstly, we need get information. We need to know how Kagami-kun got like this. There's only one person I know who can gather information like nobody's business."

Hyūga, getting a bit tired of all the drama and just wanting to skip the suspense and get it over with, asked impatiently, "And who exactly is that?"

Kuroko gave a mysterious smile and answered, "Momoi-san.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, that's it for this week. Sorry if it sounds too KagaKuro-ish. I just wanted to establish the depth to which Kagami's and Kuroko's friendship goes. Oh! Aomine and most of the GOM are making their first appearance in the next chapter, for all of you that are waiting for it to happen. See ya next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, I'm aware this took way too long to update. I'm kind of horrible with completing anything on time. But anyways, I have no excuses. So! The moment most of you have been waiting for!! The Generation of Miracles makes their first appearance! Well, some of them anyways...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

"Satsuki, tell me why the _hell_ I'm up this early on a Sunday morning."

"Dai-chan, it's 12'o clock you lazy bum!"

"Tch."

Aomine was having an awesome dream involving Horikita Mai-chan, a bed, and some chocolate syrup, when the Pink Devil herself invaded his room and loudly proclaimed that something important came up and to 'wake his lazy ass up'. Not only that, but Satsuki wouldn't tell him what was so important to have him be dragged into it too. Probably because she didn't know, which he wouldn't say out loud. He liked his life, thank you very much.

Aomine mindlessly followed Sastsuki, not even bothering to protest any further. They came upon a nice neighborhood, housing decent looking apartment buildings. There was a street basketball court nearby and he could hear the distant gleeful shouts of children coming from the direction of a park he saw from a distance on the way here.

Satsuki led him to the decent looking apartment buildings he had spotted earlier. He was a bit curious as to who lived here. Now that he had a better view as they were getting closer to the building, he took note that the place was more than decent looking. There seemed to be a balcony for every floor above the first, and as they walked into the lobby, he saw how everything looked a bit on the wealthy side.

"Oi Satsuki, does Kise live here?"

"Of course not, idiot Dai-chan. Ki-chan lives in a much wealthier place." In his defense, it was a reasonable assumption.

"Then who the hell lives here? They must be at least partially loaded in order to afford living here."

"We're in Kagamin's place!" She cheerfully responded, as if there was nothing remotely odd about what she just admitted to.

"Ha? That baka lives here? What is he, some sort of rich kid? And wait, what are we even doing here in the first place?!!" Aomine proclaimed, sounding indignant all the while.

"Well, Tetsu-kun said he needed my help with something important and told me to meet up with him in this address. Of course, if Tetsu-kun needs my help I'll gladly be of service! But I did a background check to see who lived here because I didn't recognize the place, and found out that Kagamin lives here!"

"If Tetsu only needed you, then why did you drag me here even when you knew that that idiot was going to be here?!" Aomine asked, annoyance seeping into his voice.

Satsuki scowled at this and snapped at him, "Tetsu-kun is asking for help, you aho! This is important! He could've asked Seirin for help but he came to us instead, what if something bad happened?"

Aomine only grunted and looked away, grudgingly admitting to himself that Satsuki had a point. "Fine, we're going in."

Satsuki only grinned triumphantly and walked into the elevator, pressing the button that led to the fourth floor. Aomine stepped in after her and leaned against an elevator wall, partially listening to the crappy elevator music that was playing, and partially thinking on how much of a pain it was going to be with Kagami there.

Sure, he didn't totally dislike Kagami to the point of hate, but he couldn't say they got along either. Whenever they happen to be near one another, they always seem to only argue or play some basketball. Most of the time it was both occurring simultaneously. Not only that, but Aomine had begun to develop some grudging respect for the upstart redhead, which totally sucked because Aomine could never hate someone who he respected. He supposes that the rest of the GoM are going through the same thing, being as they are quite similar in respect with pride, and in that they all got beaten by the same person.

But maybe he shouldn't complain too much. After all, he finally found his fated rival; the person who he has been longing for since his second year of middle school. Someone he could play against with all his might and be able to keep up with him, matching him toe for toe. Someone, that while playing a match with, will make him unsure of the outcome of the game. Someone who never lost his will to fight, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed.

Someone who brought back the fun in playing basketball.

And he guesses maybe he could respect that person, even if said person happens to be an infuriating redhead who he butted heads with most of the time.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sharp ding of the elevator signaling that they had arrived at their destined floor. He pushed himself off the wall and followed Satsuki, who was already halfway down the hall in her excitement to see her 'precious Tetsu-kun'.

They arrived at a wooden door with fancy golden script displaying '48D'. Satsuki knocked on the door and they waited for several seconds. They heard the shuffling of feet before the door was opened, revealing a casually dressed Tetsu.

Before Kuroko could even open his mouth to greet them, Satsuki had launched herself at him with her arms wide open. She gave Kuroko a suffocating bear hug and exclaimed, "Tetsu-kuuuunnn!!"

Kuroko stumbled slightly, but he gathered his balance before he was sent toppling backwards. He then gently managed to extract himself from the gushing woman and pushed her slightly away to a respectful distance.

"Momoi-san, I'm glad you could make it. Aomine-kun, I didn't know you were coming along." Kuroko said.

"Yeah well, that makes two of us." Aomine grunted out, shooting a disgruntled glare to his childhood friend. Satsuki completely ignored him, opting to speak with Tetsu.

"So Tetsu-kun, what is it you needed? You don't mind me bringing Dai-chan here, right?"

Kuroko only shook his head negatively and stepped aside to let them in. Aomine could've been imagining it, but he thought he heard Tetsu say, "I'm not sure if _he_ won't mind, though."

As Aomine went through the doorway, he found himself inspecting his surroundings. The place was huge. There was minimal furniture and a few sport magazines lying around along with some weights. The place was tidy. Not a speck of dust anywhere. He was a bit surprised at this, since he assumed that most people his age were naturally messy and couldn't be bothered to even make their bed, let one alone clean their whole house. But he figured that Kagami's parents must be the ones cleaning the whole place.

Satsuki and Aomine were led to the only couch in the living room and were told to please take a seat. Kuroko then made his way towards the kitchen that was connected with the living room and looked to be rummaging in the cabinets. He came back ten minutes later with two cups of steaming tea in his hands, offering one for each of them. They both took the offered tea and drank diligently. Finally, after a pause of silence, Kuroko spoke,

"Momoi-san, I need your help with gathering some information."

Satsuki set her tea cup on the plain coffee table that decorated the space between the couch and the plasma TV before asking,

"What type of information do you need, Tetsu-kun? Some intel on an opposing team?"

Kuroko shook his head and opened his mouth to respond but stopped midway, hesitating.

Now this was interesting. Aomine had never seen Tetsu hesitate before. He was a straightforward person who didn't beat around the bush. He was bluntly honest and never had any qualms about saying what needed to be said. Seeing him hesitate now, after being in the face of challenge after impossible challenge in the Winter Cup, was quite disconcerting.

After seeming to steel himself, Kuroko looked up once more and said, "Something happened to Kagami-kun and we need to know how to reverse it."

Aomine raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean 'something happened'? Did that idiot injure his legs again?" If something like that did happen, he'll give Kagami an earful. How dare that baka get injured before they had an official match? The Kanto tournament was right around the corner and Seirin needed that Bakagami in order to make it to the finals.

About to voice out his admonitory thoughts, he was interrupted by Tetsu,

"No, it wasn't anything like that. Well, at least we _think_ it isn't anything like that."

Both Momoi and Aomine looked confused by this so Kuroko only sighed and said, "How about I let you see for yourself?"

At the exact moment he finished speaking, they all heard the loud slamming of a door coming from down the hallway behind them.

"Kagami-kun, please don't slam the doors close. It is disrespectful to the neighbors." Kuroko called out.

"Sorry Kuroko! I'll remember that for next time."

Aomine turned his head to look behind himself. What he assumed to be Kagami's voice sounded a bit off. It was higher pitched than normal and was filled with an odd tone of...something. Aomine couldn't place it; he just knew it sounded different from his normally neutral sounding voice.

The light patters of footsteps were heard making their way towards them. Out of the darkness of the hallway stepped out a toddler. Aomine spared the kid a fleeting glance before shifting his head to look back at Kuroko, silently asking him who the kid was. He then heard Satsuki let out a shocked gasp besides him. He turned to look at her and saw her covering her mouth, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she stared ahead. Curious, Aomine once again turned to look at the kid, because that was the only thing Satsuki could be staring at, and met the most familiar set of crimson eyes. He took a moment to inspect the kid more thoroughly this time. After a beat of silence, he did a double take.

Standing right in front of him was the spitting image of Kagami Taiga, only shorter and younger looking. He had the same two-toned colored hair and the same weird branched eyebrows. He also had the same pair of bright crimson eyes.

"Hey Kuroko, who're they?" asked the Kagami look alike curiously.

"Kagami-kun, these are my friends from another school, Momoi Satsuki and Aomine Daiki. You've met them before."

Kagami Number 2 scratched the back of his head and inquired, "I have? Are they more people who I forgot about?"

After Kuroko nodded affirmatively, Kagami made his way around the couch in order to face the newcomers. Aomine and Momoi followed his every move, warily observing this kid who could've passed as Kagami's child. When the kid was standing directly in front of them, he bowed in greeting and proclaimed,

"Nice to re-meet you! I'm Kagami Taiga and I'm sorry if I forgot who you guys are."

Silence. Then,

"Tetsu, what the hell?!"

"Aomine-kun, please refrain from cussing in front of Kagami-kun. He's a five year old and impressionable." Kuroko reprimanded him.

Aomine only shook his head disbelievingly and stated, "Forget about that, who's this kid saying he's Kagami?"

"He's exactly who he says he is."

About to tell him that there was no fucking way that was true, he was cut short by Satsuki moving off the couch to kneel down in front of the Kagami child.

"I can't believe this..." She trailed off, placing her hands on the cheeks of an uncomfortable looking Kagami. She then slowly trailed her hands from his cheeks to his red and black hair, ruffling it slightly.

"Kuroko, why is she touching my face?" Kagami inquired a little fearfully, not knowing what the woman's intentions were.

At this, Satsuki dropped her hands to her lap and responded sheepishly, "Ah, I'm sorry Kagami-kun, it's just that these are very weird circumstances."

Kagami only nodded a little warily but seemed to eventually warm up to Momoi as she made small talk with the mini Kagami.

Aomine, for his part, just couldn't get it into his head that this was _Kagami_ , the 190cm tall _teenager_. Completely perplexed, he looked at Kuroko and demanded an explanation. Kuroko just sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and responded, "I'm not sure what exactly happened," Momoi was suddenly listening in, "but all I know is that Kagami-kun was drinking a sports drink and that he complained that it tasted odd. After that, he collapsed on the sidewalk in extreme pain. I tried to help him somehow, but before I could this really strange bright light surrounded Kagami-kun. After the light subsided, he was left behind as he is now."

Aomine still didn't look convinced. He promptly concluded that Tetsu must be messing with him. He stood up from his position on the couch and stuffed his hands in his pockets, making his way towards the door. Everyone watched him curiously.

"Dai-chan, where are you going?" Satsuki asked.

"I'm getting out of here. There's no way this is seriously happening. This must be some messed up prank Tetsu is playing on us. I'm not sticking around for the finish though. See ya." He raised a hand in farewell and was about to make his way outside the door when he got stopped by a mini Kagami.

"Hey wait! I think I remember you a little!"

Disinterestedly, Aomine replied, "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Kagami responded, enthusiastically nodding his head. "You're a very rude person!"

Momoi and Kuroko stifled a chuckle at this. Aomine only 'tskd' and said, "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, kid. Now, if there are no other revelations you have—"

"And, you say something like 'I'm the only one who can win'? Or was it 'No one can beat me'? Hm... Oh! I've got it! 'The only one who can beat me is me.'!"

Aomine looked astonished. He hasn't said that in while now, not since Kagami defeated him at the Winter Cup. The fact that this kid, this kid saying he was _Kagami_ , knew his would be catchphrase, left him a little baffled. _'Maybe he really is...?'_

"...which I think is a pretty dumb thing to say. I mean 'the only one who can beat me is me'? No one's perfect in anything, people lose all the time, even you Aomine."

Aomine's eye twitched. ' _This kid is definitely Kagami, that little piece of...'_ But he couldn't finish his thought as the fact that Kagami really did turn into a toddler finally sunk in.

_'Holy shit, this is for real.'_

He turned back around and closed the door behind him before making his way towards Chibi Kagami. Once he was standing right in front of the redhead, he looked down on him and stared contemplatively.

"...You're not gonna touch my face too, right? 'Cause that'll be creepy."

Aomine looked affronted and then scoffed, "As if, kid." He promptly flicked Kagami on the forehead.

"Hey!" Kagami aggrieved. He held a hand to his abused forehead and used the other to pinch Aomine's stomach. Aomine jumped at the unexpected action and scowled, swatting away the little hand that had pinched him.

The weirdness of it all had him a little lightheaded. Here he was, in Kagami's apartment, getting pinched in the stomach by an age reversed Kagami. He had to sit down.

Aomine collapsed back on the couch and let out a drawn out sigh. "This is ridiculous."

Kuroko nodded in agreement. "Yes it is. That's why I need Momoi-san's resourcefulness to help us find out how this happened and if possible, reverse it."

"Of course I'll help, Tetsu-kun. But I need that beverage bottle that Kagamin was drinking from."

"'Kagamin'?" Mini Kagami questioned.

"That's a nickname for you, Kagamin! Since you're a close friend of Tetsu-kun and someone Dai-chan respects," "Oi, what're you saying Satsuki? Don't tell lies.” ”, you’re considered a close friend of mine too. Any close friend of mine has a nickname I give them." Momoi cheerfully explained, unbothered by Aomine's side comment.

"Ah, okay! It's awesome that I have another close friend! I've never had this many friends before!" Kagami enthused.

Aomine snorted and asked mockingly, "What, no one ever wanted to hang out with you? Understandable."

Kagami looked slightly hurt at his words and looked away, his fringe covering his eyes from view.

Noticing the lack of response, Aomine queried, "So that's it? No one _actually_ wanted to hang out with you? How sad."

"Aomine-kun." Kuroko sharply called.

Hearing the warning tone in his ex-shadow's voice, he turned to look at him. He was met by a chilling glare that promised death if he didn't shut up this instance. Affronted, he wondered what he did wrong until he heard slight sniffling. What he saw left him dumbfounded.

Kagami was trembling. His tiny fists were gripping the fabric of the oversized shirt he was wearing so tightly his knuckles were white with the strain. Little droplets of water were seen falling to the carpeted floor. His face was hidden behind his bangs but it was quite obvious where the water droplets were coming from.

Aomine wasn't sure what caused this reaction until Kagami looked up, meeting his azure eyes with fiery crimson that were filled with tears. Then the shouting came,

"I know I'm not the most fun person to hang out with! I'm weird and gloomy and nobody seems to like me! Every time I try to play with someone, they say I'm scary looking or that I made them uncomfortable! A-and when they found out that I only had a mom, they would ignore me even more! They thought I was some problem child, making my dad leave us. So thanks for reminding me that I'm not wanted by anyone else but my Kaasan, A-AHOMINE!!"

After that last shout, Kagami broke down into sobs and hid his face behind his hands, and ran blindly into the hallway. They heard the loud slam of a door and a click afterwards, indicating that the door had been locked.

The stunned silence that had taken over when Kagami started shouting was shattered by that loud slam. Both Momoi and Kuroko turned to glare at Aomine frostily. Momoi made the first move.

"Idiot Aomine-kun! Why would you say something so insensitive to a five year old?!!" she exclaimed shrilly. She promptly smacked him over the head harshly, not holding back at all.

"Oww!! Satsuki, what the hell?!!"

Before Aomine could get a response, he was jabbed sharply on the ribs by a pissed off Tetsu.

"You too, Tetsu?!!"

Kuroko only continued glaring and said with no emotion in his voice, "That was very mean and uncalled for, Aomine-kun."

Aomine opened his mouth to protest but came up with nothing. He closed it with a sharp clack of teeth. Honestly, he didn't mean to make Kagami break down like that. He was expecting a jab right back at him when he said what he said. Not some emotion filled response. He needed to remember that Kagami was no longer a sixteen year old and therefore, he couldn't expect the same reactions.

But finding out that, as a kid, Kagami wasn't very well liked and that he was apparently abandoned by his dad left him feeling really shitty.

_'Man, I'm such an asshole...'_

"Aom—"

"I know I know stop your nagging."

Aomine begrudgingly dragged himself off the couch and made his way down the dark hallway. The walls were bare of any family pictures and the like. There were only three visible doors he could see. He chose one at random and opened the one to his immediate right.

It appeared to be a bedroom with only the essentials. A bed, nightstand, and a closet. Aomine raised an eyebrow at this. He wondered if this was a guest bedroom. If so, then the other two doors could only be Kagami's room and his parents, _mom’s_ , he reminded himself. He closed the door and went ahead and opened the one across from that one. It was a restroom with a tub and a shower. There was a single red toothbrush occupying a cup that was set on the sink.

_'Then where's...?'_

He slowly approached the furthest door from the entrance of the hallway. He stood in front of the plain white door. He could detect the slight sniffling sounds coming from the other side. He sighed resignedly and tried the door knob. It didn't budge so he was left with no option but to knock.

He did just that and the slight sniffling sounds subsided.

"Yeah?" Kagami asked with a slight wobble to his voice.

"Uh, hey um, kid." Aomine Daiki had no idea how to go about this.

"What do _you_ want?" asked Kagami grumpily.

Aomine sighed once again and said, "I uh, I came here to a-apologize." The word 'apologize' was so foreign to his tongue that he stuttered a little.

"So just let me in already so I can get it over with." Damn. Brain to mouth filter _really_ needed to be checked.

It was silent for a moment before the click of the lock was heard. The door opened and Kagami appeared behind it, half his body being hidden by it. One bloodshot eye stared at him warily before Kagami opened the door all the way, moving to the side for Aomine to come in.

Aomine entered the room and looked around. There was a twin sized bed against the far wall next to the only window in the room. Seirin's school uniform hung from a hook that was attached to the wall to his right. There was a desk with a few journals and textbooks here and there. A bookshelf was pressed up against the wall next to the door, containing various knick-knacks and a few framed pictures. There were posters scattered on the walls; some of a pro-basketball team, Air Jordan's, and a few bands he didn't recognize. A basketball was lying next to what he assumed was the closet. All in all, it looked like a regular teenaged male room, not counting how tidy everything was.

The sound of the door closing behind him reminded him as to why he was standing in the middle of Kagami's room. He closed his eyes and turned around, opening them when he was facing Kagami. He looked down on the disgruntled mini Kagami, his red eyes staring at him expectantly.

' _Whatever, let's get this over with. Before Satsuki comes in here and forces me.'_

"Look, I didn't seriously mean what I said back there. I was just joking around. I didn't know that nobody _actually_ wanted to hang out with you."

Kagami still didn't budge, his expression showing he was unimpressed.

With an annoyed click of the tongue Aomine continued, "So, um, sorry and all that. I didn't think you were _that_ much of a loser." That didn't come out _quite_ as he'd expected. Either way, he tried to convey as much remorse as he could through his expression.

Kagami silently stared at him for a few seconds before his stiff posture finally relaxed. A wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "You're not really good at saying sorry, are you? That was a very bad way of apologizing."

"Tch, you get what you get."

A small giggle escaped Kagami, and Aomine just stared. His sworn rival just _giggled_.

_'How manly, I'll make sure to bring this up once Kagami is back to normal.'_

Speaking of which, "Oi Kagami, when are you getting back to normal?"

Kagami looked mildly confused, his head tilted to the side and an eyebrow rose questionably.

"What do you mean back to normal?"

Right after he said that, his face took on an expression of anger and exclaimed, "Are you making fun of me again?! Saying I'm not _normal_!!"

Aomine hastily raised his hands in 'whoa' gesture, trying to pacify the fuming redhead.

"W-wait, no, no! That's not what I meant by normal! I'm just asking when you're going to get back to being a sixteen year old and not some kid, geez."

Kagami seem to calm down a little before he took on a confused expression.

"Oh, sorry. But what do you mean 'sixteen year old '? I need like..."

Chibi Kagami counted all the fingers on both his hands plus one more before exclaiming triumphantly, "I need like eleven more years to be a sixteen year old!"

Aomine stared at the kid weirdly. _'So he doesn't remember that he was a teenager before? I need to ask Tetsu about this.'_

"Well whatever, let's go back to the others."

"Oh, and just so you know..."

Aomine looked back at Kagami, raising an eyebrow in question.

"You're still an Ahomine." Kagami said smugly, a cheeky grin on his face.

Aomine's eyebrow made a weird spastic movement before he let his closed fist fall on that stupid red head.

"Shut up, Bakagami."

Aomine heard indignant spluttering as he walked out of the room, before Kagami was right at his heels, and headed to the living room. Once he entered, he received sharp questioning glares, demanding to know if he fixed things.

He simply waved his hand in a dismissive matter and moved to the side to let Kagami through. Kagami bound into the living room, but not without returning the favor and stomping on his foot. Aomine cursed before jumping on one foot comically, and waving a 'threatening' fist to the Chibi redhead. Kagami let out a snicker before running to Kuroko and sitting next to him, pressing up against his side.

Kuroko raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm assuming that Aomine-kun apologized to you, Kagami-kun?"

"Pfft, you can call it that, if you want. He was terrible at it! He _insulted_ me while 'apologizing'!"

"Whatever, be grateful that I even bothered to say sorry, brat." said Aomine as he walked -limped- up to them.

"You actually apologized, Dai-chan?" Momoi asked, sounding a little skeptical.

"Of course I did, not that I wanted to apologize or anything. But anyway, enough about me. Tetsu, how come Kagami's parents - _mom_ \- is not taking care of him?"

Kuroko replied, "Kagami-kun lives alone, Aomine-kun."

Aomine looked a little surprised, "Alone? Lucky bastard..."

"Aomine-kun, please stop cussing in front of an infant. And yes, he lives alone. All we know is that Kagami-kun was supposed to move in here with his father from America, but I suppose some complications came up."

"Wait wait, I lived in America?! And with my dad?!" asked a baffled sounding mini Kagami.

Kuroko looked to his right where Kagami was situated and answered, "Yes you did."

"Whoa, that's so cool! I got to meet my dad? How come I don't remember any of this?!"

"As I already said, Kagami-kun, you were involved in an accident that caused you to lose your memory," Kuroko explained.

"Okay yeah, but do you guys know when I got to meet my dad? Was he cool? Or was he a meanie like Kaasan said he was?"

An uncomfortable silence took place. Aomine didn't know why Tetsu wasn't answering, because he assumed that if anyone knew anything about this, it was him.

Finally, Kuroko spoke, "Actually Kagami-kun, we haven't met your father. We just know that he must be named Kagami-san, if he's your father."

"Oh," Kagami replied, his excited smile dropping in obvious disappointment.

A stifling silence took over. Before things could get too uncomfortable though, the front door was slammed open, and in came what looked to be all of Seirin.

"Kagami-kun! Kuroko-kun! We're back—" Riko started, but halted when she noticed a certain pink haired manager and a grumpy looking power forward sitting on the couch.

"Ah, Momoi-san, Aomine-san. I see you made it." she said instead.

Momoi got up from the couch and headed towards Riko with a pep in her step. "Hello Aida-san. I'm grateful that you asked for my help for this...situation." Momoi said, not knowing how to label Kagami's reversal in age.

"It's no problem," said Hyūga after down the bags he had been carrying. "We're just glad that we can at least start somewhere to fix this." Hyūga motioned to Kagami, who was now crouching besides the low table, and rummaging through the bags that Izuki and Kiyoshi handed to him. "Did you buy the essentials?" asked Kuroko, who had suddenly appeared next to Hyūga. Hyūga jumped but didn't shout, more or less used to Kuroko's disappearing acts.

"Yeah, we got him clothes his size and some toys." answered Riko after recovering from the small fright she received.

"Oh? Did all of you guys buy toddler clothes for Kagami-kun?" inquired Momoi.

Riko turned to her and gave a little squeal. "Yes and the ones I chose are adorable!"

Momoi gave a squeal of her own before she and Riko dashed to the low table were all of Seirin was gathered, and showcasing the clothes that they had each personally chosen for Kagami.

Aomine, now forgotten, simply sat there and watched as that guy with the cat face took out an outfit consisting of black cargo shorts, red and black sneakers, and a bright red shirt that had a big feline looking eye with the words 'Eye of the Tiger' underneath it, all within appropriate size, of course.

Aomine let out a snort, amused by the shirt and Kagami's happy looking expression. He knows for a fact that if Kagami was still a teenager, he would be bristling in anger at the joke.

_'If he were still a teenager...'_

If Kagami was still a teenager, how would the situation be different? For one, he wouldn't be sitting so nonchalantly on his rival's couch. If he was still a teenager, he was sure that they'd be in the middle of a shouting match. If he was still a teenager, Aomine would be suggesting a one-on-one (only to see Kagami humiliate himself, he unconvincingly tells himself). If he was still—

His train of thought got shattered into metaphorical glass pieces by a pair of ear splitting squeals.

Aomine winced and shot a glare to the pair of girls who were currently cooing at a bright orange bundle. He moved his gaze to the side and _stared_.

Kagami was in a _tiger_ suit. His whole body was covered in orange with black stripes. Where his hands are supposed to be are paws that come attached to the outfit. A hoodie was pulled over his bright red locks, two round fluffy ears sticking up. A striped tail with a white tip lay limp on the floor.

Despite telling himself that this was Kagami, his _rival_ , he couldn't help but think 'cute'.

Immediately after he mentally bleached his brain before the horror could set in.

Shaking his head, he spoke up, "Oi Satsuki, what's with that ridiculous outfit?"

"Huh? Oh. Isn't it great?! Aida-San made an incredible choice!" She answered distractedly, too engrossed in cooing and making starry eyes at Kagami to pay much attention.

Aomine glanced back at Kagami and took note of how much his pudgy cheeks reddened under the attention. It wasn't just Satsuki acting this way, but everyone else looked ready to turn into a pile of goo.

Incredulous, he addressed Kuroko, "Tch. At least I know _you_ would never turn into a pile of—? Tetsu?!! You too?!!"

Kuroko had a barely noticeable blush on his cheeks and had a sparkle in his eyes that spoke volumes.

"Oh no, I lost you too," bemoaned Aomine.

Having had enough of this ridiculousness, he was going to speak up, but before he could rudely tell them to get over Kagami's supposed cuteness, Seirin's coach announced,

"C'mon guys, let's take Kagami-kun to the street basketball court!"

Apparently everyone was up for it, except for a hesitant looking Kagami.

Kuroko, noticing his hesitation, worriedly asked, "What's wrong Kagami-kun?"

Wringing his attached tail in his hands nervously and chewing on his bottom lip while shuffling his feet anxiously with a faint blush on his cheeks apparently made a pretty adorable picture. Because of this, Kuroko almost missed Kagami's statement,

"Ano, do I _have_ to go dressed like this? This is pretty e-embarrassing..."

Riko snapped out of her daze and declared, "Of course you're going like this Kagami-kun! We have to let the world know how adorable you are!"

All of Seirin was nodding along agreeably.

"B-but—!" tried Kagami.

"No buts! Let's go!"

Before Kagami could protest any further, Kiyoshi picked a surprised Kagami up and settled him on his shoulders. Once he got a secure grip on him, he made his way out the door.

Everyone else followed suit. Aomine, seeing as he was the only one not standing up, decided to stand up too. He wasn't going to be left in a foreign apartment all by himself. He followed them outside and down the stairs, staring at Kagami's gleeful smile as he was held up high above the rest. He saw that they were making their way to the street court that Aomine passed by on his way here.

In less than a five minute walk, they were there. Upon getting closer, he heard two very familiar voices.

"Pleeeaaaassseeee Midorimacchi?!! We haven't hanged out in forever and I already have a ball with me, see?"

Finally arriving, they all saw none other than Kise Ryota waving a basketball around an annoyed looking Midorima Shintaro.

"Hello Kise-kun, Midorima-kun. It's nice to see you," Kuroko greeted, deciding to let himself be known.

"Waahh!! Kurokocchi!! What're you doing here?" asked Kise after dramatically gasping and gripping his chest in surprise.

"I'm here to play basketball with Kagami-kun and my team," answered Kuroko, unfazed by Kise's reaction.

Kise brightened at that and said, "Ah!! That's great! In fact, I was just in the process of convincing Midorimacchi to play with—"

"My answer is still no," interjected a grumpy Midorima.

"But Midorimacchi—"

"Midorin! Ki-chan! It's nice to see you again!" Interrupted Momoi, not wanting to hear Kise's whining.

Both Miracles finally took noticed of the extra company. It seemed all of Seirin was here, along with Aomine and Momoi, surprisingly. Kise and Midorima also noticed a redheaded kid in a tiger suit sitting on Kiyoshi's shoulders.

"Momoicchi!! Aominecchi!! Are you guys here to play basketball too?"

Before any of them could reply, Kise went off to the next question, curiosity taking the better of him.

"Ano, who's the kid?"

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to observe the still blushing Kagami on Kiyoshi's shoulders. Kiyoshi put Kagami down and gave a light nudge towards Kise's direction. Kagami looked up at Kise before turning to look at Kuroko questioningly. Kuroko nodded at the unvoiced inquiry and gestured towards both Miracles.

Nodding back, Kagami took a step forward and bowed in greeting, "Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Kagami Taiga, and yours?"

Kise and Midorima looked incredulous. That is, until Kise broke the silence that had settled with a loud, "EEEHHHHH?!!!!"

Everyone winced at the unnaturally high pitched shout. Kise floundered around a little before shoving his face uncomfortably close to the small Kagami. He studied every inch of his face with unsettling scrutiny, ignoring how the Kagami child was not so subtly trying to back away. Then,

"Oh my god!! This _is_ Kagamicchi!! Look!" Kise picked up Kagami from under his armpits and unceremoniously shoved the squirming child in front of Midorima's face.

Midorima took a step back before his face could collide with the others. Slightly ticked, he took note of the unmistakable features that made up Kagami. His two-toned hair, his oddly split eyebrows, and most noticeably, a shining pair of crimson eyes.

He nodded his head in affirmation and spoke up, "Oha-Asa did predict horrible luck for Leo's yesterday."

"That's not the point!" Wailed Kise, "Look at how.... _adorable_ he is!!" He finished with a squeal.

Kise turned Kagami to face him and hugged him to his chest with crushing force before nuzzling his face into red locks. He let out random coos and pinched the cheeks of a very distressed looking Kagami.

Everyone looked on while feeling different amounts of disturbed. Here was one of the Generation of Miracles, an aspiring model, an almost grown man, squealing and cooing like a tween aged girl would.

Before things could get any more disturbing, Kuroko decided that now was a good time to rescue Kagami before he passed out from asphyxiation via out of control blond. Kuroko unexpectedly jabbed Kise on his ribs and caught a grateful looking Kagami from Kise's loosened grip.

"T-thanks Kuroko, I was about to lose all hope," said an out of breath Kagami.

Kuroko only smiled amusedly and nodded before giving Kagami-kun off to Izuki in order to distract him. Addressing the two Miracles he explained "Because of a strange incident last night, Kagami-kun got reverted to his five year old self. He doesn't have a concrete grasp of who we are but seems to know of us in some level, some more than others. We are currently trying to find a way to reverse whatever it is that happened to him."

As he finished up, Kagami-kun seemed to have squirmed out of Izuki's grip and was now approaching a weary looking Midorima. He looked up thoughtfully at him for about a minute before he hesitantly asked, "You...have a, um, lucky...lucky item, yeah?"

Midorima looked surprised for a moment before swiftly recovering and showing off his lucky item of the day to Kagami. "Yes, I do. Today's lucky item is a plush tiger. I follow Oha-Asa's horoscope and play by its predictions in order to ensure I receive the best of luck."

Kagami looked at the tiger in mild awe before directing a blinding smile at Midorima and excitedly saying, "That's so cool!! Kaasan says I'm a Leo, what're you?"

Midorima blushed a little after hearing that his 'strange' hobby was referred to as _cool_. He averted his gaze and distractedly pushed up his glasses before answering, "I'm a Cancer."

"Is that the one with the crab? Nice!!"

Turning away from a flustered Midorima, which Kagami was oblivious to, Kagami gave his attention to Kise, who was still groaning in pain after Kuroko's jab.

He walked up to him and bluntly declared, "I think I remember that you have a lot of girls chasing after you. Are you a, ah, what did Kaasan call it?... Ah! A playboy, are you a playboy?"

Kise choked on his saliva and the rest couldn't help but roar in laughter. Even Kuroko seemed to be slightly shaking, a sign that he was suppressing laughter.

"No, no! Kagamicchi!! I'm not a playboy, I swear! I'm just really _really_ famous and I'm very popular with the girls, but that doesn't make me—!"

The rest of his frantic explanation was drowned out by the laughter increasing in volume.

Aomine continued laughing at Kise's expense, loving how utterly frantic he looked trying to persuade Kagami that no, he wasn't a playboy, and yes I swear I'm not lying please just let me hug you.

After a few minutes, everyone calmed down and ignored a moping Kise. Clearing her throat, Seirin's coach declared, "Alright. Let's do what we came here to do!"

Everyone nodded and started playing Rock Paper Scissors to decide who was on whose team. Aomine simply went to go sit on the bench, not wanting to be part of this if there wasn't someone that could keep up with him in a one-on-one.

He observed as the teams were decided on and were ready to start until Kagami's voice broke through,

"Um, how do you play basketball?"

You could hear a pin drop by how silent everything became. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing. Kagami shifted uncomfortably when everyone stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes. Even Aomine, who usually didn't care about much to react to anything, looked at Kagami like he just sprouted a second head.

Finally, delayed as it was, a loud,"HHHAAAHHHHHHH??!!!!!!!!!!" was heard throughout the park.

Kagami simply looked on confusedly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, that's it. I hope the length of it kind of made up for my lateness. I'm on brake right now, so I'll try to get another chapter up before next week. No promises though, my home will be invaded by relatives, and I'll be having awkward dinners with a third cousin who married the brother of the ex-wife of my distant uncle. Bear with me. Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So! Looks like I managed to update faster than last time, yay for us! And yes, I'm about a week late, but better than being months late, right? Thanks for all of your reviews, they're very encouraging. But anywho, onward!!
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

Aomine stared down at the redhead grumpily while said redhead stared back up at him expectantly. Everyone else was off playing basketball while he was here, stuck in an awkward stare down with mini Kagami.

Aomine sighed and despairingly thought to himself, _'Why did it have to be me?'_

 

_After experiencing the shock of finding out that Kagami apparently forgot how to play basketball, everyone started firing off questions at once._

_"What're you talking about Kagami?!!"_

_"Waah!! Kagamicchi forgot how to play!!! What're we gonna do now?!!"_

_"Noo!!! We lost our Ace!! How are we gonna defeat the Miracles in the Kanto tournament now?!!"_

_"Idiots!! The team is not just Kagami!!"_

_"What has the world come to?!!"_

_"Hmm, it makes sense."_

_The chattering halted when they heard Kuroko speak up._

_"What do you mean by that, Kuroko-kun?" asked Riko._

_Kuroko waited until everyone was paying attention before he started his explanation, "Well, I do believe that Kagami-kun started playing basketball during his middle school years in America. If I'm not mistaken, Himuro-kun was the one that introduced the sport to Kagami-kun in the first place. It makes sense that his reversal in age also involves a reversal in mind. In other words, Kagami-kun currently only has the memories of when he was the age he is now."_

_Everyone looked a little thoughtful at that. It was still a hard concept to grasp that Kagami reversed in age in the first place. Having to come up with theories as to how this happened and what are its effects are the best they could do right now. No one had a clue as to how to fix it, so they'll just have to get adjusted to the change and quickly learn how else Kagami was affected._

_"Well then, at least this is something we can solve easily!" Momoi said while clapping her hands cheerfully._

_"What do you propose, Momoi-san?" questioned Kuroko._

_Momoi gave a mischievous grin before turning around and pointing at an out of place looking Aomine._

_"Dai-chan!"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Dai-chan!" Momoi continued, "You will teach Kagamin how to play basketball!"_

_"HUH?!! Why would I do that? There's no way he's learning from me!" protested an indignant Aomine._

_"Because Dai-chan, everyone else is going to be playing a match of basketball, and neither Aida-san nor I have enough skills to teach him. You're the only one not doing anything, so instead of lazing around, you'll be doing something productive!" explained Momoi._

_Aomine hurried to come up with an excuse until his eyes landed on Midorima. "What about Midorima? He isn't doing anything either! Force him to do this instead!"_

_"Actually, I have to meet up with Takao in a few minutes. I'd rather not be late-nanodayo." Midorima refuted hurriedly._

_Momoi turned to Aomine triumphantly. "See! Everyone has something to do but you Dai-chan! Now, you better do this or I'll tell your mom that you've been skipping practice again!" threatened Momoi._

_"You wouldn't!" challenged Aomine._

_Momoi simply took out her pink phone and dialed a number. After the first ring, you could hear the voice of a woman answering._

_"Hello aunty! No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know that Aomine—"_

_Aomine quickly rushed to Momoi using his unbelievable speed and snatched away the phone from her person and placed it on his ear,_

_"—that I'll arrive later than usual today. I'm hanging out with a few....friends." he finished off, slightly hesitating on the last part._

_After finishing off his explanation, he handed the phone back to Satsuki while glaring at her resentfully._

_Momoi smiled and threw him a basketball that she snatched from out of nowhere._

_"Alright then! Off you go!"_

 

 

Oh, right. That _evil_ woman.

A tug at the hem of his shirt brought him out of his musings.

He glared down, annoyed, at that stupid Bakagami. The redhead only kept on looking at him expectantly. He sighed and decided that this was a necessary sacrifice. A Kagami that couldn't play basketball just wasn't a Kagami anymore.

"Fine fine, but you better pay close attention." Aomine spoke out resignedly.

Kagami only nodded excitedly and was nearly shaking in anticipation.

Aomine sighed once again and picked up the basketball that was at his feet. He started to slowly dribble the ball in place and spoke up,

"Okay, so this is what you do. You grab the ball like this, see?" Nod. "Okay. Then you just bounce the ball and make sure it doesn't leave from where you can reach it. Here, try it."

Aomine made sure to pass the ball without much force. Kagami fumbled with the ball for a little until he steadied it in his grasp. The sight was quite comical. The basketball was way too big for his hands. In fact, it was bigger than his whole head!

Kagami seemed undeterred by this and determinedly bounced the ball with one hand. Apparently he used too much force because the ball went sailing over his head.

"Ah!" Kagami exclaimed and extended his tiny arms out in order to catch it.

Aomine caught it for him and handed it back. Kagami took it with a blush of shame on his cheeks before frowning and tightly grasping the ball. He turned away again and this time, with a little less force, bounced the ball with one hand. The ball bounced back and Kagami started to lightly dribble the ball, looking unsure. When he saw that the ball wasn't going anywhere else, Kagami seemed to gain more confidence and started to walk around while bouncing the ball and interchanging hands.

"Haha! Look Aomine, look! I'm doing it!" Kagami excitedly called out while increasing his pace.

"Hmm, don't get too excited kid. This is just basics."

Kagami turned his head to pout at him and grumbled loudly, "Gee, thanks."

Aomine smirked and stole the ball from Kagami. "Now, since it seems you've got the dribbling down, let's see if you can shoot."

Aomine did one of his many seemingly formless shots using only one of his hands. The ball went in without even touching the net.

Kagami looked awed and let a, "Whoa." He shook himself out of his daze and quickly went after the ball. Once he got it back, he placed himself a few feet away from the basket. He tried imitating Aomine in only using one hand to shoot, but the ball didn't even reach the net. He frowned and went after it again, coming back and placing himself in the same spot. Once again, he tried shooting with one hand only but failed miserably. This went on for a little while until Kagami let out a frustrated whine and turned to Aomine.

"Why isn't it going in?!!" Kagami demanded. Aomine had sat down after the fourth failed attempt and just contented himself with watching Kagami fumble around like a noob. The frustration was obvious and honestly, quite amusing.

"Because you suck," Aomine replied.

"I don't suck!!" exclaimed Kagami angrily. "You're probably teaching me wrong!" Kagami jabbed back.

"I'm not teaching you—" When Aomine figured out why Kagami couldn't make it, he almost smacked himself. Of course he couldn't make it; Kagami was attempting a _formless_ shot. His signature move. And with one hand! There was no way Kagami could make that.

Standing up, he walked up to Kagami and took the ball from his hands. He positioned himself a few meters away from the basket and took a shooting form."This is what you're supposed to do. You bend your knees and hold up the ball with your right hand. You put your left hand to the side of the ball to steady it. Once you take aim, you jump a little while shooting with your right hand. Like this."

Aomine took the regular shooting form and demonstrated what a perfect shot should look like.

"Ha! So you _were_ teaching me wrong!" proclaimed Kagami smugly.

"Tch, just go get the ball and start shooting." Aomine replied, annoyed at the redhead and himself for not figuring it out sooner.

Kagami gave one last smug grin before going after the ball and positioning himself in front of the net. He gingerly settled himself on a shooting form and placed the ball on his hands. He took a deep breath and held it. Then, he shot the ball up and into the basket. The ball skimmed the rim and barely made it in, but was made nonetheless.

Kagami released the breathe he was holding and started cheering.

"Yeah!! Take that Ahomine! I don't suck at all!" cheered Kagami while jumping around Aomine and poking him on the stomach.

Aomine caught the little hands that were poking him. "Stop that, it's annoying," he grouched.

Mini Kagami only smiled and looked at him as if waiting for something. Realizing what Kagami wanted, he grudgingly praised him, "Uh, yeah, that wasn't as sucky as I expected, Bakagami." Well, praised him in his own asshole way.

Kagami smiled joyfully anyway, all of his teeth showing while a light blush appeared on the top of his cheeks. Aomine looked away and uncomfortably scratched the back of his head. Seriously, why was Kagami making stupid expressions like that? It wasn't right.

He cleared his throat and gave the ball back to Kagami.

"Here, just because you made one shot doesn't mean you're an expert at it. Go shoot some more hoops until you get fifteen out of twenty."

Kagami nodded determinedly and rushed back to his previous position. But just before Kagami started shooting, he turned back and called out,

"Oi, Aomine."

"Hmm?" he replied.

"Thanks for teaching me basketball!" Kagami responded, all smiles and sparkly eyes.

Aomine looked away again, deeming to not reply to that at all.

_'Seriously Kagami, stop giving me those smiles...'_

 

* * *

 

 

After several hours of playing basketball, everyone was tired out and hungry. Including Aomine, even if he didn't do much. Still, having to deal with Kagami alone was tiresome in on itself.

"Alright everyone! We've been here a while so let's head back to Kagami-kun's apartment. I'm sure I can whip something up so we can all eat," announced Riko.

Hyūga quickly stepped in front of Riko before she could take another step. He put his hands up to make her stop and forced a smile.

"Ah, coach, you don't need to do that. We'll go to Maji's or something..." Hyūga trailed off when he saw Riko smiling creepily. He shuddered and decided that the best course of action was to shut his trap before he got killed.

Riko continued smiling and let out in a sickly sweet voice, "Ne Hyūga-kun, I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Can't I reward my team for playing a good game?"

All of Seirin huddled together in a corner, terrified for their lives that were now in the hands of their coach. They had a good life, they thought.

Kise, Aomine, Momoi, and a chibi Kagami looked confused by their behavior. Kuroko went up to them and explained, "Coach's cooking skills are a bit....lacking."

Aomine shrugged before carelessly saying, "I'm starving, I think I'll eat anything right now. Besides, she can't be as bad as Satsuki."

That earned him a smack to the head.

"Actually, Coach's cooking skills are on par with Momoi-san's, maybe even a little lower." Kuroko clarified, backing away slightly incase Momoi-san decided to smack him too.

Kise looked baffled at this. "What?! How can someone cook worse than Momoicchi?!! Is that even possible?!!"

Smack.

"Ouch!! I'm sorry Momoicchi, but it's true!"

Momoi 'hmph'd' and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sure Aida-san and I can cook something up. Maybe if we combined our skills, we'll make something delicious!!"

Riko, having overheard what Momoi said, brightened at the suggestion and spoke up, "Yeah! C'mon Momoi-san, let's head over to Kagami-kun's apartment!"

"Ugh, well in that case, I'm out. No way am I eating whatever crap they'll come up with," Aomine grouched out. He was already on his way out of the court before he got stopped by Momoi pulling the back of his hoodie.

"Aomine-kun! We're going, and that's final!" Momoi ordered, sounding like a bossy mom.

"Tsk, and why would I listen to you?" Aomine questioned grumpily.

Momoi brought Aomine close and whispered menacingly in his ear, "Because Dai-chan, I know where your porn is. Who knows what I can do with that type of information?"

Aomine paled slightly and growled. He shrugged off her hold and turned around to head back to where the rest were waiting for them. Momoi skipped ahead of him to hook her arm around Seirin's Coach's elbow. They started chattering and were exchanging their 'delicious' recipes and whatnot.

Aomine went to go walk next to Kuroko who was walking with chibi Kagami. When he got close enough he heard Kagami question, "Ne Kuroko, is her cooking really that bad?"

Kuroko nodded affirmatively and responded with, "Yes Kagami-kun."

"How bad is it?"

"Well, one time after we won a match against Tōō, we went over to your apartment to celebrate. Someone else was supposed to cook for us but Coach beat us to the kitchen and already had a hot pot ready. It tasted normal and there didn't seem to be anything off with it—asides from the fruit—so we ate it. But it was like a slow acting poison; we all collapsed a few minutes after finishing the hot pot. It was quite disconcerting." Kuroko explained tonelessly, seeming to not be affected by his near death experience.

Kagami and Aomine looked horrified. How could someone make a poison out of fruits and vegetables?!!

Aomine simply groaned and said, "Damn, and I wanted to live a little longer."

Kuroko simply smirked amusedly while Kagami was still contemplating on how someone can mess up food so completely.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Seirin, Kise, Aomine, and Kagami were all sitting around the low table, dreading over whatever was going to be placed on their plates. They could hear and see the tinkering the women were making. From what they could see, the kitchen looked a mess. There were pots everywhere and random foods were spread around the kitchen. Stains seemed to be on almost every surface and smoke was seen coming out of the bubbling pots that were currently cooking on the stove.

"I'm not cleaning that," Kagami mumbled to himself.

Everyone else silently nodded to themselves, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

Finally, after having been in suspense for what seemed an eternity, the woman came out of the kitchen with a dramatic flair; steam and smoke being left in their wake while the lights did some weird thing and focused on them, casting their faces in menacing shadows.

They all gulped in unison.

Momoi and Riko approached the low table and carefully placed a plate in front of every one of them. They all looked down and saw....meat. Not even properly cooked meat. The questionable pieces of 'meat' looked undercooked and just generally raw. There was some type of what they assumed was a vegetable accompanying the meat. They were all cut in varying sizes and didn't look cooked at all.

"Umm, Coach?" questioned a brave Fukuda.

"What is it, Fukuda-kun?" answered Riko while smiling expectantly along with Momoi.

"Uh...well, can you tell us the n-name of this dish?" he inquired, almost losing his nerve.

Momoi and Riko beamed before answering, "It's Nikuyaga!* Can't you tell?"

Seirin nodded hurriedly, unconvincingly trying to look like they knew all along. This went right over both girls’ heads.

"Well, go on! Try it!" Momoi eagerly encouraged.

Kagami watched as everyone reluctantly grabbed their chopsticks and picked up a slice of meat. He wisely decided to see if they were all going to die before even trying his own serving.

He watched as everyone signed their death warrants by placing their piece of food in their mouths. Everything was silent, Kagami intensely staring at any change of expression. And a change there was. The faces of everyone turned into an unnatural purple color. Grimaces couldn't be kept from showing and some even did a comical spit-take! Kagami decidedly pushed his plate away.

He stood up, unnoticed, as everyone broke out into complaints. He walked to the kitchen and looked around at the mess that was made. He rummaged around the fridge to see what was left, and took out a bag of rice that was left untouched and some vegetables. He searched for a salvageable piece of meat and found one on a cutting board.

Kagami climbed up a stool that was conveniently placed near the stove, and placed all the dirty dishes into the sink where they can be washed later. Kagami then grabbed a knife that was next to the cutting board and started chopping up a few vegetables, cutting them in small even pieces with practiced ease. When that was done, he grabbed a pot from one of the cabinets and filled it with water and placed the vegetables inside it. He carefully set the pot on a burner and turned on the heat to medium to let them boil just right.

Kagami wiped the knife on a rag that was hanging from a hook on the wall, and commenced to cut the slab of meat in the same fashion as the vegetables.

 _'Honestly, how can someone mess up steaming cabbage? These noobs.'_ He thought to himself while shaking his head contemptibly.

Meanwhile, the people in the living room were still complaining and the chefs were throwing insults at every one of them for being rude. Aomine was trying to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth. He drank his bottle of water religiously until all he could taste was the water.

_'Ugh, never again...'_

He looked around to see that everyone else was either spitting out their food or were trying to not so discreetly slide their food into a nearby plant. Kise was even crying crocodile tears at how horrid the 'food' tasted. As he snorted amusedly at that, he took notice that there was one little person missing.

"Oi Tetsu, where's Kagami?" asked Aomine.

Kuroko looked to his left where an untouched plate was the only thing there. He looked around the room but couldn't spot him. He turned back to Aomine and responded,

"I don't know, Aomine-kun." Kuroko then turned to his team and cleared his throat, unsuccessfully trying to catch their attention.

Aomine rolled his eyes at his ex-shadow's ridiculously low presence. He proceeded to voice out his earlier question louder in order to save Kuroko the trouble.

"Hey, where's Kagami?"

This time, as they heard his imposing low baritone voice, everyone turned to look at him confusedly before the question registered in their minds. They looked around in the same manner as Tetsu and it seemed that they couldn't find him either.

It looked like Tetsu was ready to organize a search party—that is until they heard low humming come from the kitchen area.

Curious, everyone stood up from their spots on the floor and tiptoed to the kitchen. They all silently hovered around the counter that separated them from the kitchen. What they saw left them a little awestruck.

Chibi Kagami was expertly cutting up a slab of meat into neat little cubes and once he finished, he seemed to be peppering seasoning on to them before placing all the cut up pieces into a pot separate from the one already boiling. He then took out a rice cooker and placed the contents of a bag of rice in it and stepped back to observe his work.

It was at this point that Kagami took notice of his audience.

"Oh. Uh, hi?" Kagami nervously greeted.

"Kagami..." slowly started Hyūga.

"Y-yeah?"

".... What are you making?"

Kagami looked a little surprised at the inquiry before his features took an expression of slight arrogance.

"Oh you know, nothing too fancy. I'm just making curry." he nonchalantly responded while absentmindedly stirring the contents in a pot.

He was _just making curry_. He wasn't just making curry; he was making _delicious looking_ curry.

"Kagamin, you can cook?" _‘And better than us?!’_ was left unsaid but clearly heard.

Kuroko responded for Kagami, "Actually, Kagami-kun is an excellent cook."

"But he's a five year old! How can he know his way around the kitchen better than most of us?!" proclaimed Aomine. This discovery was quite shocking to him, considering that the extent of his cooking skills was limited to making rice, and even then it was the rice cooker that did all of the cooking. And besides that, Kagami was currently a _five year old_. Was it normal for a kid his age to know how to cook?

"Hey, that's right! Kagamicchi, how come you already know how to cook? Did someone teach you how?" inquired Kise with righteous indignation. Even he, who was good at almost everything, had trouble cooking. He usually had his chefs do all the work.

Kagami stopped what he was doing and looked away. He turned around and started to search the cabinets for who knows what. It didn't matter; he just wanted to do something to distract himself with.

"Actually, I just watched my mom cooking some stuff, and then I tried it one time and it actually came out pretty good." he answered distractedly.

"But you can't know how to cook good curry from just trying it one time. Did you practice all the time?" asked Momoi curiously, wanting to know in order to put it into play once she tried cooking curry herself.

Kagami once again stopped what he was doing but didn't turn around. He looked to the ground sadly before explaining,

"... My mom, she works a lot. She has several jobs and she says she does it so she can support us. I'm left alone a lot of the time because we can't afford a nanny so it's just me and my cat alone in our apartment."

Everyone stayed quiet and listened with rapt attention. Seirin especially wanted to listen to this, considering Kagami was their teammate and they recently found out he only had a mom. What more was there to him?

"That didn't bother me too much; I understood why she was doing it even though it was lonely most of the time. So, well, my mom said that I couldn't just eat cereal all day so she had me watching her cook sometimes in order for me to make my own food when she was gone." Kagami finished, still not looking at any one.

The silence that followed after was heavy. Some of them were trying to come up with the right thing to say while others couldn't help but feel pity for this lonely kid. Was he still lonely now? Now that he lived by himself again and had no one to talk to during his stay here.

Aomine felt slightly uncomfortable while listening to all of this. He didn't want to know Kagami's past, he didn't want to be part of this. He felt as if he was intruding on a moment between only the Seirin players. Still, he couldn't help but be enraptured by every word coming out of Kagami's mouth. There was something fascinating in hearing sordid details about one's rival. And he didn't mean it in a bad way, more in a whoa-I-can't-believe-I'm-hearing-this sort of way.

He noticed that Tetsu was about to speak up, probably with words of comfort, when Kagami finally turned to face them. What they all saw made his breath hitch.

Kagami flashed them the saddest smile they have ever seen. It was forced, with fake cheer decorating his features. As he spoke, no one was convinced that what he was saying was true, "But it's alright! Kaasan says I have to be strong, so I'll be strong. I'm fine with only Flamey as company. After all, I'm used to it..."

Kagami turned away and grabbed a clean plate from one of the cabinets. He went up to the rice which was already cooked and served himself two spoonfuls. He then went up to the curry, which looked about ready, and poured himself a huge amount. Kagami grabbed a spoon and walked out of the kitchen.

"There's curry if any of you want any. I'll be in my room." Kagami said cheerlessly.

They all watched him walk away, no one moving to stop him from leaving.

Aomine looked around at the Seirin team. Some faces showed concern while others showed helplessness, some a mix of both. They wanted to help, to cheer up Kagami, but the truth of the matter was that this was all set in the past. Sure, Kagami may believe that his five year old memories are his current life, but in reality that life left him eleven years ago. He isn't aware of that, but the rest are. They didn't know what to do.

Aomine let out a weary sigh.

' _This is getting troublesome...'_

 

* * *

 

 

After Kagami had retreated to his room, everyone, not knowing what else to do, decided to serve themselves some of the curry that was offered to them.

Unsurprisingly to Seirin, it tasted delicious. They all either nodded affirmatively to each other, saying that this was definitely Kagami's cooking, or hummed in appreciation. The rest on the other hand, were still baffled that mini Kagami could make something this good. They found themselves humming along with Seirin, the food being undeniably delicious.

Afterwards, Seirin, Momoi, and Kise went to the kitchen and started cleaning up the mess that was left behind. They didn't want to leave all of this mess to be cleaned up by Kagami.

Aomine meanwhile stood to the side, trying to see if there was any more curry left. Unfortunately, there wasn't. So he only stood there, watching as everyone else cleaned up. Aomine took this time to himself to think back to everything's that happened so far.

He was dragged to Kagami's apartment against his will, found out that Kagami magically reversed in age, made said chibi cry, had to apologize (something he will _never_ do again), saw Kagami wearing the most ironic outfit, taught Kagami how to play basketball, unwillingly learned a piece of Kagami's past, and tasted the most delicious curry made by a five year old.

Aomine sighed while thinking, _'This day has been long. I want to nap.'_

But of course, nothing ever goes Aomine's way. Before he could even tell Satsuki that they were leaving already, he heard the slamming of a door opening and stomping footsteps heading their way.

Everyone startled at the loud noise, and snapped their eyes to the dark hallway. But it didn't seem to be so dark anymore, for there was a bright light hurriedly coming their way. What came out of the hallway was a distressed looking Kagami, grasping at his own clothes in a panicked fashion. And it was understandable, he being panicked, because there was a bright light that seemed to be originating from Kagami himself.

"Guys!! K-kuroko!! What's going on?!!" exclaimed Kagami, sounding terrified.

Snapping out of his bewildered daze, Kuroko rushed to Kagami, kneeling in front of him and steadying him by the shoulders

"Kagami-kun, Kagami-kun! Calm down, it's alright. Can you tell me how this happened?" Kuroko asked calmly, trying to pacify the terrified kid.

Kagami tried to stop his uncontrolled shaking, but he couldn't. He was afraid and had no idea where this light was coming from and it was suddenly getting very hot.

He tried speaking without stuttering too much, "I d-don't know! I was just e-eating my curry, and t-thinking about my m-mom and stuff, when t-this light a-appeared!! And w-why is it getting so h-hot?!!"

Before Kagami could start ripping his clothes off to relieve some of the heat, he suddenly felt an immense amount of pain hit him. With a shout, he collapsed on the ground and curled into a ball.

Alarmed, all of Seirin rushed to the hurt child's side and crouched around him, trying to see if they could do anything.

"Kagami, what's wrong? Kuroko, what's happening?!" demanded Hyūga, sounding distressed.

Kuroko looked distressed himself, hovering over Kagami protectively and trying to reach out for him. "I'm not sure, but this looks like what happened on the night Kagami-kun reversed in age. All I know is that he's in an immense amount of pain right now." he replied, his helplessness at the situation showing through his voice and expression.

Aomine didn't know what to do. If Seirin didn't know, then how could he? Sure, he wasn't friends with Kagami, but that didn't mean he enjoyed seeing his rival like this; in pain and whimpering pathetically on the floor. He hesitantly reached out to Kagami's forehead, trying to see if maybe he could sooth the pain. But as soon as he touched him, a scorching heat seemed to emanate from Kagami and in turn burn Aomine's hand. With a hiss, he retrieved his appendage and backed away slightly.

This seemed to cause a chain reaction. Kuroko let go of Kagami's shoulders in the same manner, wincing as he looked at his red hands. When everybody else saw this, they all backed away and left a good amount of space between them and the squirming child. They could all feel it now; Kagami seemed to be radiating heat. It was intense, making all of them break out into a sweat. And it only seemed to be getting hotter as the light that was surrounding Kagami grew brighter.

Eventually the light grew so bright that they had to shield their eyes from view and look away. What they couldn't see, they could hear. They heard Kagami's shouts of pain, his whimpering, and his cries for help. And they couldn't do anything, the heat that was emanating from him too hot for them to bare. But slowly, the light looked to be dimming little by little, Kagami's distressed cries diminishing. They all carefully uncovered their eyes, warily looking at the center of the circle.

Once the light was completely gone, they could clearly see what was left behind.

It was Kagami, still in the same tiger outfit, only this time it looked too small on him. His limbs were longer and his face less chubby. His wild red locks looked less tamed than they usually were. He still looked younger than them, only he was older than before.

He was Kagami Taiga, only it seemed to be that he gained a few years.

Aomine looked on baffled, along with the rest of them. Any doubts that they had before have been vanquished, seeing as they saw for themselves that this was real.

He stared at the sleeping child, for he was still a child, before looking away and letting out a heavy sigh.

_'I really need a nap.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Nikuyaga is a simple traditional Japanese dish consisting of steamed meat and cooked cabbage.
> 
>  
> 
> A/N: Okay, well, there it is. At least I didn't take two months to update. I hope you guys liked it. I'll be introducing the rest of the GoM in the next chapter. Who isn't excited to see Akashi's reaction to all of this, right? I know I am. Also, I'll be explaining some more of Kagami's past too. What do you think of his past so far? Please let me know, and thanks for reading! Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well,here it is. Took a bit of a while, but thankfully not too long. I had a bit of trouble with Akashi's character, but I did my best to keep him as in character as possible. Oh! And a bit more of Kagami's past is revealed.
> 
> Read on and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

Incredulous silence was all that filled the living room. Everyone cautiously crowded closer to the now sleeping redhead. They observed him with eyes full of wonder; after having witness what they had, it was understandable. The lingering doubts they had before now seemed ridiculous.

Ultimately, the one who broke the silence was Kise, "... Kagamicchi! Oh my god, is he alright?!!"

That seemed to be enough to break everyone else out of their daze. The reply to his worried inquiry was made in the form of Seirin turning to give Kuroko questioning glances.

Kuroko let out a heavy sigh and his form relaxed, letting out all of the tension that was previously there. "He should be alright. Last time this happened, Kagami-kun passed out. He'll wake up in about half a...hour...?"

Kuroko trailed off questioningly as he noticed that Kagami-kun seemed to be stirring. He cautiously crawled slightly closer, wincing as the movement made him use his slightly burned hands, and hovered above the child. He gingerly placed his hands on Kagami's shoulders and shook him lightly.

"Kagami-kun...?"

Kagami stirred a bit, mumbling gibberish in his sleep. He squirmed before shrugging out of Kuroko's hold and rolling over to rest on his side and letting out cute little snores. Kuroko gave a fond smile at that and was about to attempt to wake him once more, but his hands flared up in pain. He winced a little more noticeably this time, enough for Riko to notice at least.

"Furihata-kun, can you go check if there's a first aid kit in Kagami-kun's bathroom? Thanks. Kuroko-kun let me get those checked out. Koganei can go ahead and wake up Kagami-kun," ordered Riko. Kuroko nodded reluctantly and let Riko inspect his hands.

"You too Dai-chan, let me see your hand." said Momoi.

Aomine grunted out while inspecting his hand, "It's fine, I don't need to get it bandaged. Go focus on Tetsu."

"But Dai—"

"I said its fine." Aomine growled out, his eyes softening slightly when he took notice of Satsuki's worried eyes. He sighed and waved his hand in front of her face. "It's just a little red, see? Nothing serious. Now go over there and help Tetsu."

Momoi, pacified for now, nodded and rushed to Kuroko's side, mother-henning him and just generally being worried. Furihata eventually came back carrying a first aid kit in his hands. He handed it to Riko and she opened it and rummaged through it until she found a healing ointment along with some wrap bandages. She gently took Kuroko's hand and applied some of the ointment. When that was done, she handed the wrapping bandages over to Momoi and let her wrap the bandages around Kuroko's hand.

Koganei, meanwhile, was approaching Kagami confidently. He knew the perfect method to wake him up! It always worked on him and he was a heavy sleeper, it would surely work on Kagami!

He stealthily crouched next to Kagami, circling him until Kagami's sleeping face was in sight. He peered at that face mischievously before getting his own face closer to the sleeping redhead's. Hyūga, keeping a wary eye on Koganei, warned him,

"Oi, don't do anything stupid."

Koganei looked up and shout whispered, "Don't worry, I've got this! He's going to wake up for sure!"

The exchange caught the attention of everyone else, making them turn their focus on the spectacle that was for sure going to occur. Even if you weren't part of Seirin, you knew enough about the players to know nothing good could come from Koganei waking up Kagami.

"Coach, why did you tell _Koganei_   to wake up Kagami?" inquired Tsuchida with a look of horror plastered on his face.

Riko herself was questioning her orders. Deciding that nothing good could come out of this, judging by Koganei's devious expression, she was about to call off the order when Koganei went in for the kill.

Koganei brought his mouth next to Kagami's ear and exhaled and inhaled, readying his lungs to shout, "Viva non!" But he never got to even let out a beep, for when he had exhaled, two fiery crimson eyes snapped open and focused intensely on the pair that was hovering above him. Koganei let out a 'meep' when he saw those burning eyes glaring daggers at him with all their might, and if they could, he was sure they would be letting out lasers that could pulverize him in an instant.

Kagami glared for a bit longer from his place on the floor before he swept his gaze to his surroundings and everybody in it. Then, his whole body tensing like a spring, he shot up to his feet with surprising speed, rapidly delivering a punch to Koganei's vulnerable stomach. Once the teenager was down he purposely used Koganei's body as a launching board, ignoring the alarmed shouts coming from everyone else in the room, and jumped over the couch with a leap so high he completely sailed over it without even skimming it. He landed on the other side in a crouch and sprinted to the kitchen to hide behind the counter, where it was out of sight from everyone else.

"Kagami, what're you doing?!" exclaimed Hyūga with an alarmed note in his voice after Kagami had hid behind the counter.

"Senpai!" exclaimed the trio of first years as they rushed to a groaning Koganei, who was in fetal position and was clutching his most likely bruised stomach.

"How can a k-kid punch so h-hard?" wheezed Koganei and letting out a cough afterwards.

"Hyūga _did_ say not to do anything stupid," said Tsuchida to no one in particular. Mitobe nodded agreeably, having almost no sympathy for his friend. He had it coming. Everyone else was staring incredulously between Koganei and the counter where Kagami had hidden behind.

"Kagamicchi just punched someone!!" exclaimed Kise, disbelief written all over his face

"Shut up idiot, we all saw what happened," grouched Aomine while staring curiously at the kitchen counter.

"Sshhhhh! Be quiet and let's treat this with caution!" commanded Riko. "Kuroko-kun, would you please?" Riko gestured towards the kitchen and Kuroko got the message.

Kuroko stared worriedly at the kitchen counter while calling out, "Kagami-kun? Can you please come out?"

"... Where am I?" came a question that was slightly muffled, the slightly raspy voice holding suspicion. Seirin looked at each other concernedly before Kiyoshi answered, "You're at your apartment, Kagami."

"How do you know my name?"

At this Seirin was really confused. Why wouldn't they know his name? Did Kagami maybe forget about them again? And why is he addressing them so suspiciously? At least last time, Kagami didn't question the fact that they knew who he was. Why act so untrusting now?

"Because Kagami-kun, we're your friends." answered Kuroko.

There was no response, only silence. Then, disheveled red locks were seen peaking over the counter. Once Kagami's head was fully showing he full on glared at Kuroko. Kuroko looked surprised at this, never having received such a glare from Kagami since maybe that time he challenged him to a one-on-one when they first met. But even then, that glare wasn't as fierce as this one. This one was brimming with so much anger and resentment, an ugly expression that contorted the face of this small child into one resembling a hateful adult.

"'Friends'? I have no friends. Who are you people?" That was said with so much conviction that Kuroko couldn't help but feel sadness well up within him. Was Kagami-kun still friendless? But it's been years! It looked like Kagami grew up so he must have surely made some friends along the way.

"We _are_ your friends Kagami, don't you remember?" asked Izuki while trying to discreetly get closer to Kagami. In turn, Kagami set his crimson glare on Izuki, making the second year freeze on the spot and pale slightly. _'Damn, he's been this scary since this age?'_

"And I already said I have no friends. Now answer me, who are you?" growled out Kagami, growing wary of all them and getting more aggressive by the minute.

Aomine, having a feeling that this could become problematic, raised his hands in an attempt to calm the redhead while speaking up, "Oi Kagami, they're just Seirin, your basketball team remember?"

Kagami's glare loosened up, slight confusion clouding his features before he shut his eyes tightly, his expression turning into a grimace of pain as he tightly held his temple with one of his hands. He stood up fully and clutched his head in both hands now, gritting his teeth and letting out soft whimpers. He stumbled and almost fell face first into the floor if it weren't for Kuroko, who had rushed to Kagami's side when he saw him stagger around. Kagami recoiled from the touch and stumbled backwards and away from Kuroko. Kuroko couldn't help but feel a small pang of hurt at Kagami's obvious displeasure at being touched by him, but didn't let it get to him. Instead, he tried to show that he didn't mean any harm by keeping his distance and raising up his hands.

"Kagami-kun, I won't do anything. Just let me help you."

Kagami furiously shook his head from side to side while still clutching his head. Finally, he let out a shout and collapsed on his knees, panting as if he'd run a million miles. For a full minute, all you could hear was Kagami's loud pants. No one dared to make a move in case Kagami decided to punch someone again. Kagami's pants slowly turned into regulated breathing. He looked up to uncertainly meet Kuroko's stare and, in a broken whisper, let out,

"K-kurok-ko?"

Kuroko nodded reassuringly and was about to speak, but Kagami wasn't done yet. Kagami looked up at the rest of Seirin and spoke, his voice gaining stability every time he voiced a name,"Hyūga... Kiyoshi... Koganei... Mitobe.... Aida... Izuki.... Tsuchida... Fukuda... Furihata... Kawahara..." Everyone who got voiced out looked at each other uncertainly, not completely sure where this was going.

Kagami then turned to the rest of them and looked at Kise first, "You're.... Kise."

He looked at Momoi and asked, "Momoi...?"

And finally, he turned his eyes to Aomine, "...Aho..."

Aomine's jaw dropped in complete and utter disbelief. Everyone else tried, and failed, to hide their snickers behind their hands. They couldn't help but find this totally hilarious. Aomine was about to throw a few explicit words to all of them, but got stopped in the form of Kagami finishing his sentence.

"...Aomine... You..you taught me how to play basketball...."

At that, Aomine couldn't help but turn his head away in a slightly bashful way, which he will deny if ever asked. He went on and replied, "Yeah, I did. But don't think I'll ever teach you anything again."

Kagami didn't respond, he just kept on staring at everyone with wonder in his eyes. Finally, after having gotten a good look at every face in the room, he spoke up, "I remember you guys... When I was younger, you people took care of me...? Something about my mom being in America..."

"Kagami...how old are you now?" asked a wary Kiyoshi.

"I'm...I'm nine...I think." replied Kagami, sounding unsure of his age.

"What do you mean by 'you think'?" inquired Koganei, who had stood up while Kagami was listing off names.

At that, Kagami's eyes lost their wonderment and hardened, glaring full force back at Koganei. Koganei gulped and backed up slightly, fearing that another punch in the gut might come his way.

"It means what it means," growled out Kagami. His once relaxed stance shifted to a wary one. He seemed to be on guard and his eyes took on a suspicious glint.

"Now, if you guys don't mind answering, why am I back here?"

Kuroko opened his mouth to answer but Kagami cut him off, "And don't spout out some crappy lie like last time." Kuroko closed his mouth and stared at Kagami with a bit of shock showing on his features.

"Okay, so we did lie to you. But how did you know?" asked Hyūga.

 Kagami gave him an arrogant smirk before replying, "You just told me, _megane_."

Hyūga spluttered in indignation and shouted out, "Oi, gaki! Get over here and I'll show you to respect your elders! On your knees!"

"Hyūga, your bad side is showing again..." warned Izuki.

His warning went ignored as Hyūga promptly cracked his knuckles and stomped to Kagami, ready to smack his head in. Kagami, on the other hand, seemed to only get even more amused. When he saw the fuming captain head his way, his smirk grew and his eyes gained a wild glint. He taunted Hyūga by making the 'come here' motion with his right hand. Hyūga, seeing that he wasn't being taken seriously, only fell further into Clutch Time Hyūga and a menacing aura surrounded him, making the first years back away and whisper terrifyingly to each other about how scary their captain was in Clutch Time mode.

Riko sighed and murmured to herself, "Why does this always happen?" She then cleared her throat and spoke in a louder voice, "Hyūga, calm down! He's just a kid, don't let it get to you..." She saw that her order went completely over Hyūga's head as he continued on his trek of righteous fury. A tick mark formed on her forehead as she quietly schemed to herself a training menu so fierce that Hyūga wouldn't be able to bring his arms up to shoot three's anymore.

Aomine only kept on observing. Kagami looked so...different. Not even a few hours ago did Kagami's expression show happiness and childish joy. Now...now all he could see was arrogance, cockiness, wariness, suspicion, and aggression. So much aggression. He couldn't help but feel that there was something that was lost, something irreplaceable.

_'What happened to you, Kagami?'_

Meanwhile, Hyūga was quickly approaching Kagami. Once he was close enough to Kagami, he raised his open palm, intent on smacking Kagami's head hard enough to smack the cockiness out of him. As he was bringing his hand down, Aomine saw Kagami's abrupt change in expression before it happened.

Just as Hyūga's hand was about to land on Kagami's head, the nine year old quickly caught his wrist with his left hand before Hyūga's hand could smack him. Kagami gripped the wrist tightly, making Hyūga wince noticeably, and with surprising force, he pulled Hyūga's arm towards him making the second year stumble forward. Without warning, Kagami lashed out and landed his closed fist on Hyūga's unprotected solar plexus. Caught off guard and in pain, Hyūga's breath was forced out of him and left him gasping on his knees while clutching his gut.

Kagami was about to deliver a kick to Hyūga's bowed head when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He jumped backwards and away from the hands that were attempting to reach out for him and quickly put some space between him and what he now considered another person trying to attack him. He looked at Izuki, the person who had reached out to him, and tried to figure out what it would take to get past him. The door was a few feet away, he could probably make it. But there were all those people too, would they try to stop him? Most probably.

Most of them didn't smell too strong. The weakest of them all was Kuroko, and the strongest was probably Aomine. Next to him would be Kise. Those two would be a problem, their scent alone was pretty intimidating, but it didn't intimidate him enough to stop him from doing anything. At moments like these he was glad he had gained his little smelling sense. It was pretty handy when it came to checking out probable obstacles. Everybody else smelled not too strong but not too weak. Together they will definitely be a problem, but he gathers he could probably take at the most three on his own. But that wasn't the case right now, he needed to think fast or they'll definitely overpower him.

Seeing the odds stacked up against him made a burning fire erupt within Kagami. He hadn't had a challenge this difficult in a while. This was surely going to be a fun experience. He was confident in his street learned abilities, he could get past them.

_'I can do this, I've been through worse. Besides, this could be fun.'_

With that last thought in mind, a ferocious grin took over Kagami's face. Seeing Kagami's change in expression, Aomine had a feeling that nothing good will come out of it.

"Dai-chan, we can't let Kagamin get away. He's most likely planning to try and get out of here." whispered Momoi to Aomine.

Aomine looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering how she knew that. As if reading his mind, Momoi replied, "I'm an analyst, remember? Observing is my specialty."

Rolling his eyes at her smug expression, he grunted in agreement and was about to call out to Tetsu to warn him, when Kagami moved.

 And _move_ he did.

With a mighty jump, Kagami leapt to the counter top and jumped over it leap frog style. He landed on the other side and made a dash towards the door that was straight ahead. Kiyoshi, who was closer, jumped in front of Kagami and put himself in a standard blocking position; spreading his arms and legs wide as if being in defense during a basketball match. Not even skipping a beat, Kagami kept on dashing straight towards Kiyoshi. Just as he was within Kiyoshi's reach, he dropped down and slid in between Kiyoshi's spread legs like a baseball player making home base and emerged on the other side. Fluidly, he stood up and didn't spare a glance at Kiyoshi's shocked face.

"Guys! Don't let him get away!" shouted Riko.

The three Seirin first years jumped into action and they all stumbled to make themselves a makeshift barrier between Kagami and the front door. Kagami, seeing that there was no gap he could go between, screeched to a halt and turned left to where the couch was situated.  He again leapt over it and almost crashed against the low table if it weren't for his reflexes. He stood up and made his way forward again. Koganei then threw himself dramatically to Kagami from behind, managing to snag the back of Kagami's clothes. Kagami snapped his head to look over his shoulder and gave him a look that could kill. Koganei whimpered and his grip loosened on Kagami's clothes enough for him to be able to slip out of his grasp.

"You idiot! You had him, why did you let him get away?!" Hyūga exclaimed after rising up from his position on the floor, still holding on to his gut.

Koganei let out crocodile tears before whimpering out in a terrified whisper, "H-he could've killed m-me! Did you see how he _glared_ at me?! I almost died!" Hyūga only shook his head in exasperation.

Kagami kept on ploughing through. He was almost to the door, he was _almost there..._

Of course, it couldn't be this easy. In a yellow blur, Kise was suddenly in front of him. His once playful eyes were now narrowed in calculation. This had Kagami's hackles rising even more. Without warning, Kise lashed out an arm in order to catch him, but Kagami's confident nature wasn't born from nothing. He had the skills to back it up. Showing impressive speed for a nine year old, Kagami managed to lean back and almost bend in half in order to avoid that hand. He let himself fall back on his hands and managed to jump high enough to kick Kise's hand away from him.

The model hissed and cradled his hand to his chest before speaking, "C'mon Kagamicchi, we just want to talk things out."

Kagami quickly stood up and backed up a few steps, his eyes scanning everything around him trying to find a way out. His eyes lightened up when he found something that could work. He turned his gaze back to Kise and with a cheeky smirk he replied, "No thanks, _playboy_."

"P-playb-boy?!!"

Taking advantage of Kise's momentary indignation, Kagami grabbed the conveniently placed potted plant that was on the low table and chucked it at Kise with no remorse. The blond let out a girly shriek and started babbling about his designer clothes being ruined. Snickering to himself, Kagami quickly dodged Kise's flailing arms and went around him.

Finally, he managed to get to the door and had his hand on the door knob. He twisted it and violently pulled the door open. _'Haha, yeah! I made it! Now I just have to get out of here and—'_                                                                   

"We're sorry Kagami-kun!"

Kagami froze on his spot and stopped breathing.

"... What did you say?" whispered Kagami, his voice so soft they almost couldn't hear him.

Kuroko, the one that had hastily apologized, looked remorseful and spoke with sorrow in his voice, "I said, we're sorry Kagami-kun."

"What're you apologizing for?" asked Kagami with his back still to them.

Kuroko took a deep breath before continuing, "We're sorry for not being there. We're sorry for not sticking with you. We're sorry that you had to be alone. We're sorry that you still have no friends. But most of all, we're sorry for not being good friends."

Seirin looked remorseful as well. They were nodding along with what Kuroko was saying, genuinely feeling like they let Kagami down.

"You...you..." Kagami seemed like he couldn't get the words out. He started trembling and clenching and unclenching his fists. He turned back to them but they couldn't see his face for it was covered by his bangs because he was looking down.

Aomine had a feeling he knew where this was going. He'd seen it before not even a full day ago. He tensed and braced himself, knowing for sure that Kagami was going to start shouting at them.

Kagami finally exploded, "You have no right to apologize! You weren't there! You have _no_ idea what you're even apologizing for! You don't know what happened and you don't know _how_ it happened so don't go saying you're sorry like you actually have any idea as to what happened! Otherwise it's just meaningless! It's an empty apology that I will completely reject! If you want to apologize for anything, apologize for pretending to know what went on!"

That seemed to be the last that Kagami had to say. He was left panting and clenching his fists, his teeth grinding against each other and furious eyes glaring at them. Everyone else looked away, realizing that what Kagami hollered at them had truth to it. They _didn't_ know what Kagami went through. They _didn't_ know what happened to him. They didn't know a lot of stuff. But they did know one thing. They knew that Kagami was still their friend, still a part of Seirin. They knew that they still cared for him. And no matter how much Kagami spat at them saying otherwise, they were still friends.

And Kuroko was about to let him know that.

"Kagami-kun," spoke Kuroko with a sad tone in his voice, "you're correct. We can't claim to know what happen and we apologize for it. We're sorry that we assumed anything." Kuroko then met scarlet eyes with his own determine pale blue ones, "But you're wrong in assuming that we aren't your friends, that we don't care about you. You're part of our team and that's enough for us to want to befriend you. We may not know much about you, but in the end it doesn't matter. You're still Kagami-kun, our _friend_."

"And that's why we're asking you to stay here, and please don't go."

Kagami didn't seem as furious anymore. His form had stopped shaking but his fists were still clenched. He still wouldn't look at them, but his jaw seemed to lose some of its tenseness. Everyone else waited with bated breathes, the atmosphere around them so tense that it could be sliced with a butter knife.

Kagami looked up at them. He wasn't glaring at them anymore. In fact, he seemed to be a little unsure. He studied every face in the room and took note on how they looked as remorseful as Kuroko, sans Aomine. But he somehow didn't mind, knowing that that jerk was an aho and completely insensitive, based on that experience a few years ago where Aomine had made fun of him for being friendless. Everyone else looked genuine enough. He couldn't ignore that, as much as he wanted to.

Letting out a sigh, Kagami silently relented by closing the door behind him. With that one motion, everyone in the room gave a collective sigh of relief. Kagami only rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself about almost making it out of here.

Hyūga then cleared his throat and caused everyone to look at him. He was staring at Kagami as if waiting for something. When Kagami seemed to not get what he was waiting for he spoke, " _Well?"_

Kagami looked confused and looked at Kuroko for an answer. Kuroko simply gave him a small shrug in response.

"Well what?" he responded.

Hyūga bristled before saying, "Are you going to _apologize?"_

Kagami still looked confused, "Apologize for what?"

The second year grumbled to himself before responding bitterly, "Apologize for _punching_ me in the gut and almost _kicking_ me on the head?!!"

The redhead's confused expression cleared to one of understanding before flatly replying with, "No."

"What?!! Why the heck not?! You're not even a _little_ sorry?"

Kagami was still flatly staring at him and replied with an equally flat voice, "No, I'm not sorry at all. As to why I'm not sorry, well, it's just something I do every day. Punching and kicking pretty much helps me survive."

Hyūga stopped himself from yelling at him when he heard the rest of Kagami's explanation. He looked questioningly to his teammates and they returned the same look.

"Huh? Why would it help you survive?" asked Koganei.

Again, Kagami's expression hardened and he didn't even deem to answer that, instead opting to shoot daggers at him.

Koganei hid behind Mitobe and whispered to himself despairingly, "Why is it always me?" Tsuchida, who happened to hear him, whispered back, "Because you're an idiot." Mitobe nodded in agreement. 

"Let's just..." Riko sighed, "let's just let Kagami-kun be." She took out her cellphone and checked the hour. "You guys, it's getting late. We should go." Everyone nodded in agreement and shuffled around to get their stuff.

"Wait, who's going to stay with Kagamin?" Momoi asked.

Kagami raised an eyebrow, "Why would someone need to stay with me? I can take care of myself."

"We know you can take care of yourself, but it would really make us feel better if someone could stay here with you." Kuroko stated.

Riko nodded in agreement and asked, "Any volunteers?"

"I would stay with Kagami-kun, but unfortunately my parents would refuse me to stay another night since I already stayed here yesterday." Kuroko answered.

The three Seirin first years voiced out that they also couldn't stay because their parents wouldn't allow it. Momoi and Riko couldn't because there was no way that their dads would allow them to stay in the house of a guy, even if said guy was currently a nine year old. Kise had a photo shoot he has to attend to tomorrow and Kiyoshi had to help out his grandparents. Mitobe had to cook for his family tomorrow morning. Everyone one else was presumably free so they gathered in a circle to play jan ken pon. Well, except Aomine.

Momoi, seeing that Aomine was not joining the circle, nudged him on his side and motioned for him to go join. Aomine grunted out a, "I'm not playing to see who's gonna stay with Kagami. Besides, as if I'd stay here with him."

"But Aomine-kun, you have nothing to do tomorrow. And don't tell me you're going to be busy, 'cause you aren't!"

"Satsuki I'm not—"

"You are!"

"Stop your nagging and let me leave—"

"Dai-chan!"

Aomine threw up his arms in exasperation and shouted, "Ugh, fine! Just shut your stupid mouth already!"

Momoi simply gave him a small victorious smirk and shoved Aomine towards the circle. Aomine grumbled to himself and squeezed himself in between that cat guy and some other person he couldn't remember the name of (Tsuchida).

And so the little circle proceeded to have several rounds of jan ken pon until a loud curse was heard.

"Shit, let's do two out of three!"

Those who played jan ken pon only shook their heads negatively to the cursing blue hair ace.

Aomine kept on cursing and searched out for Satsuki and stared at her imploringly. She only shrugged her shoulders and skipped to the door while saying, "Bye Dai-chan! Don't be mean to Kagamin and make sure to let your mom know you're staying!" She then went up towards Kagami, who was standing next to the door, and glomped him. She pretended not to notice how he tensed up and how his hands twitched as if stopping himself from pushing her away.

"Bye Kagamin! If Dai-chan is being a meanie, you have full permission to punch him too."

Kagami only nodded and shrugged himself out of her arms.

And straight into the arms of a bubbly blond.

"Kagamicchi! I forgive you for ruining my clothes. You're too cute for me to stay mad at!"

Kagami smacked the blond over the head and grumbled out, "I'm not _cute_."

Everyone else left similarly. Kagami got pats on the head, another glomping from Riko, a flick to the forehead from Hyūga (he didn't want to get punched again so no smacks on the head), and even a pinch on the cheek courtesy of Kiyoshi. Koganei _attempted_ a friendly pat on the shoulder but got scared away by Kagami's harsh eyes.

"Why _me?!"_

At last everyone was gone and only Aomine and Kagami were left. They didn't say anything and the air around them was awkward. Well, at least on Aomine's part. That is until he took notice of something. He smirked to himself and said in a teasing tone, "Oi Kagami, nice outfit."

Kagami glanced at his clothes and blushed up to the roots of his hair when he saw that all he was wearing was a tiger outfit that was _way_ too small on him.

"Shut up you aho!"

 

* * *

 

Aomine must have pissed off someone at some point. There was no way he could have such continuous bad luck otherwise.

How did he get stuck with taking care of Kagami, _again?!_ And both times in the same day, to boot.

After getting a kick out of seeing Kagami blush like a girl, the redhead had retreated to his room and had put on a shirt that didn't seem to be as big as Kagami himself was when he was still a sixteen year old. The shirt was a plain black color with an American logo on it. It was in English so he couldn't tell what it said. But even though the shirt seem to be smaller than Kagami's normal teenaged body, the piece of clothing still left Kagami swimming in it. The redhead had come into the living room tripping over it and when he saw Aomine smirking amusedly at him, he scowled and ripped the shirt from its hem so that it reached his waist now. He was also wearing very loose basketball shorts. With the piece of cloth he tore off, he made a makeshift belt and tied it around the rim of his shorts so they stopped falling down. He looked like a kid wearing his big brothers clothes with a dash of hobo in it.

He had already called his mom to let her know that he was staying with a friend. Currently he was sitting down on the couch and was curiously observing Kagami. The redhead was looking at the furniture, the walls, the floor—the whole apartment—with a weird mix of expressions. He didn't know how to explain it, he looked awed, curios, and wary for some reason. Hesitant, too.

Kagami's hands hovered above every item, seeming to want to touch them but hesitating at the last minute. As if afraid he'll break them or something.

"What're you doing?"

The redhead jumped at the sudden inquiry from the blue haired ace. He turned to shoot him a small irritated glare before ignoring his question and turning back to inspecting every item with the same expression on his face. Aomine clicked his tongue in irritation and was about to throw an insult at him when the nine year old softly spoke,

"I...I haven't seen stuff this expensive in all my life. What if it breaks if I touch it?"

Aomine was a bit surprised that Kagami actually spoke to him but he recovered quickly and replied in his usual callous way, "It's not gonna brake just because you touch it dumbass."

"Shut up Ahomine," Kagami answered, whatever softness there was in his voice before now gone. Without giving Aomine a second glance, Kagami headed to the kitchen and helped himself to the fridge's contents. After a few minutes of rummaging through it, he took out enough ingredients to make a sandwich. While preparing himself his meal, he asked Aomine,

"So whose apartment is this?"

Aomine didn't know how to answer that. On one hand, he could come up with some elaborate lie and on the other, he could tell the truth. Considering how Kagami figured out the lie Tetsu had come up with, he went with the latter.

"It's yours." Blunt and to the point. Maybe not the best way to deal with this.

"Huh? How can this apartment be mine? I'm nine and there's no way I can afford this. Besides, it's not like I live anywh—" Kagami abruptly cut himself off and aggressively continued to make his sandwich. Once done, he put everything away and went back into the living room. He sat down on the opposite end of the couch and took a huge bite out of his sandwich. With his mouth full he spoke, "Anyway, what do you mean by that?"

Seeing as how Kagami had a mouthful of food, Aomine really couldn't make out most of what he said but he got the gist of it. Seeing as how he already started off bluntly he continued with a shrug, "I mean just that. This _is_ your apartment."

Kagami gave him an unimpressed look that kind of reminded him of Tetsu. That in on itself was a bit disturbing, because the usually spitfire Kagami _never_ had on an unemotional face.

Sighing Aomine decided to elaborate, "Look, this might sound crazy to you but trust me, it's real. You're actually a sixteen year old guy that apparently lives by himself in a rich apartment and that goes to Seirin High School in Japan."

"And you're an okay basketball player..." Aomine added grudgingly before saying arrogantly, "but never better than me. I can crush you in an instant."

Kagami seemed to not have heard his last statement though, because he had stop eating his sandwich mid bite to stare disbelievingly at Aomine. He snapped out of his reverie when Aomine decided to pinch his nose to get him to move again. Kagami swatted the hand away and scooted a bit further away from him. He turned back to his sandwich and finished the rest of it in two bites. He brushed away the crumbs that had fallen on him and stood up while replying dismissively, "Yeah right, I think I'd remember if I was once a teenager." Kagami then turned his back to him and started to walk away.

Aomine got a bit ticked with Kagami's dismissiveness. He didn't know why he wanted the redhead to believe him, he just knew that he couldn't let this matter drop until Kagami understood. Maybe showing him some of the pictures on that shelf in Kagami's room would help Kagami believe him. But there was no way Kagami would go along with him. So following his instincts he stood up with the thought of scooping up Kagami in mind. He reached out for him and got as far as wrapping his hands around the redhead's waist before his wrist was grabbed and twisted. He cursed and let go of Kagami and waved his hand a little to relieve the pain. He fiercely glared at Kagami and snapped, "What the hell was that for?!"

Kagami glared back just as fiercely and growled out, "Don't touch me without permission asshole. If you do, then don't complain about the consequences."

Aomine's angered flared up at the nerve of this _brat_. Out of spite and to show him who was still the strongest, Aomine proceeded to do what he intended to do in the first place. He reached out again but this time Kagami dodged, but Aomine, having superior speed, manage to catch him mid escape. He dragged the redhead to him and scooped him up on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

Kagami shouted in indignation and started to kick and punch Aomine in his current position. Aomine grunted and readjusted the nine year old so that he was now hanging on Aomine's side with his arms trapped to his sides. His legs dangled uselessly and even if he did kick out, he couldn't reach anywhere vital. So he resigned himself to his faith and hanged his head and angrily grumbled to himself.

Aomine ignored the redheads grumbling and brought him inside the former teens' room. He carelessly dropped Kagami and was a bit impressed to see him land in a crouch and not face first like he hoped he would. Aomine then glanced at the bookshelf and searched for any pictures that had Kagami in it while being older. He found one near the top that showcased Kagami in the middle of a blonde bombshell and a raven-haired kid with a beauty mark below the corner of his right eye. All of them were grinning in happiness to the camera

_'Wait, isn't he the guy from Yōsen? What's he doing there?'_

Deciding that those questions could be answered later, Aomine grabbed the framed picture and shoved it in Kagami's face. The redhead leaned back a bit before snatching away the picture and inspecting it for himself. Aomine closely observed Kagami's face. The redhead seemed confused at first before his expression morphed to one of incredulity. He pointed to himself in the picture and shouted disbelievingly, "That's me!"

The blue-haired ace snorted and sarcastically said, "No shit Bakagami."

Kagami paid him no mind and continued to gape at the image. He finally shakily let out, "B-but how is that possible?! How come I'm younger than what I look like in this picture?!"

"Actually, we have no idea. It just sorta happened. You got engulfed in some weird light that burned if touched and kinda just came out like that."

"That's the worst explanation ever," deadpanned Kagami.

"Tch, well that's the only one you're getting. We're in as much of a loss as you are, brat."

Kagami turned back to the picture and continued to stare at it for a long moment before asking, "Do you know who these people are? I mean, they seem kinda familiar but I don't really remember them... We also look...happy." Kagami finished in such a longing voice that Aomine couldn't suppress the slight pang in his chest. Damn, this Bakagami was really making him feel unwanted emotions.

He uncomfortably cleared his throat before replying, "I have no idea who the chick with the huge boobs is, but I think the other boy there is a guy named Himuro Tatsuya. He's from Yōsen High School in Akita."

"Tatsuya...that does sound familiar, but why does it make my chest hurt?" Kagami rubbed his chest with one of his hands and looked forlornly at the picture. He shook himself out of his slump and placed the picture on one of the lower shelves. Kagami then sat down on his bed with a tired sigh and laid down.

"Well, I guess I believe you a bit. But I really don't want to be thinking about how this happened, it's making my head hurt." Kagami rubbed his hands to his forehead before looking at Aomine. Kagami stared emotionlessly at him for minute, just as Aomine was getting uncomfortable he spoke, "Thanks. I...appreciate you telling me the truth and not lying to me."

Aomine simply shrugged in response. He didn't really know what to say so he left it at that. Besides, having his rival _thanking_ him for anything left him feeling a bit awkward.

Figuring things were done here, he made his way to the door and prepared himself to sleep on the couch. It may be comfortable, but it was way too small for him to sleep there. A night of uncomfortable positions awaited him.

"Wait."

Aomine turned back to the redhead and raised an eyebrow in question. Kagami looked away before replying, "Since this is supposedly my apartment and all, and there's a perfectly good guest room available, why don't you sleep there?"

The bluenette looked a bit surprised and the offer and was about to voice out a quick rejection when Kagami interrupted him with a gruff voice, "Look, I know you won't sleep comfortably on the couch, you're freaking abnormally huge for it—"

"Who's abnormally huge?!"

"—so just sleep in the freaking guest room. It's not like it's being used by anyone. Just do it."

Aomine stopped himself from insulting the redhead and instead clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Whatever." The bluenette finally made his way outside the room when he heard, "G'night Ahomine."

He looked back at Kagami but the redhead had his back turned to him already. He grunted and responded with, "'Night Bakagami."

Unknowingly to the both of them, each of them were sporting tiny little smirks.

 

* * *

 

The following morning was something that Aomine _never_ wanted to think about for the rest of his life.

Several sharp pokes to his cheek was what awakened him. He grumbled and turned away from the annoyance. But insistent as ever, the pokes were at it again. Finally, growing supremely annoyed with the situation, he reluctantly opened his eyes and was greeted with the sharp tip of a pair of scissors. Looking past the scissors, he met the heterochromatic eyes belonging to non other than his former captain, Akashi.

With a loud shriek, a _manly_ shriek mind you, Aomine scooted back rapidly and ended up unceremoniously tumbling off the bed and on to the cold floor, taking the blanket and pillows with him.

With a groan, he sat up and managed to glare at Akashi, though considering his current situation, he didn't look any more threatening than a ruffled cat.

"That's no way to greet your former teammate, Daiki."

"Akashi, what the fuck! What the heck are you doing here?!"

"Tetsuya invited me to discuss an important matter."

"That's not what I meant!"

Apparently his loud shouting attracted the people that were in the house. Footsteps were heard rushing towards them and in came Kuroko, Momoi, and lazily tracking behind them was Murasakibara, of all people.

"Aomine-kun, are you alright?"

"What happened Dai-chan?"

"Mine-chin, you scream like a girl."

"Shut up Murasakibara! It's this entire freaks fault! Who the hell wakes someone up by poking them with deadly sharp _scissors?!"_

The room went quiet after his exclamation and a deadly aurora seemed to emanate from the short redhead. Aomine gulped and realized what he had just called Akashi.

_'Kami-sama, please let me live.'_

Just as Akashi was readying his punishment, in came a half awake Kagami rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"What's all the noise about?"

When he didn't get an immediate, he finally stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up. He stared at the scene before him; Aomine on the floor, a guy with different eye colors seeming to be ready to stab someone with the scissors he was holding, Kuroko and Momoi looking mortified, and a _gigantic_ purple-haired guy that was eating chips. After processing all of this, all he had to say was,

"Pfft, nice boxers Ahomine."

Aomine glanced down and was mortified to see that he was wearing his DBZ boxers. He looked up when he heard muffled snickers coming from Satsuki and Kagami. He couldn't help but turn red in embarrassment and yelled, "Shut up! Yesterday was laundry day!"

Kuroko smirked amusedly before saying, "Even so, why do you still even own Dragon Ball Z boxers?"

Before Aomine could come up with an excuse, Akashi spoke up with command in his voice, "As much as I find Daiki's choice in undergarment amusing, it's time to get to business. Tetsuya, would you please explain why you called me here on such short notice?" Akashi pointedly looked at Kagami too, silently asking who he was.

Kuroko nodded in consent and motioned for them to follow him to the living room. Everyone did, but Aomine stayed behind to hurriedly change back into his clothes before following them out.

When he arrived in the living room, everyone was already seated somewhere. Akashi, Satsuki, and Tetsu all sat on the couch while Murasakibara sprawled himself out on the armchair and Kagami was seated on the floor next to Kuroko. Aomine decided to lean against the couch next to Satsuki and crossed his arms.

Once everyone looked comfortable, Kuroko spoke up, "Sorry for calling you in such short notice Akashi-kun, but I assure you it's for an emergency."

Akashi nodded and motioned for Kuroko to continue, "You see this child here," Kuroko gestured to his side where Kagami was located, "is Kagami-kun. He currently has no memory of who he was before."

Aomine, Kuroko, and Momoi waited with bated breath. Akashi simply stared at them before shifting his intense gaze to the red headed kid on the floor. He bore his eyes into the pair of crimson ones.

Kagami didn't like this guy, his scent was supremely strong and had his fight or flight instincts going haywire. Not only that, but his eyes seemed to be processing everything that was him. It was immensely intimidating and had his hackles rising. But he couldn't show how intimidated he felt, he had learned from experience that predators feed off of fear. So he bravely squared his shoulders and hardened his gaze enough for it to be defiant and showed he wasn't scared of him.

Akashi raised an impressed eyebrow at the look he received. Even though he looked younger, this was definitely Kagami Taiga. He had the same look he wore when he faced him in the Winter Cup, one of pure defiance and determination. Besides, he couldn't ignore the obvious physical similarities.

He bowed his head a little in greeting and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Akashi Seijūrō. We played once against each other in a basketball match."

Kagami nodded back in greeting and said, "Kagami Taiga, nice to meet you."

"Wait, that's it? You believe him?" asked Aomine, slightly confused as to why Akashi hadn't reacted with a little bit of more shock instead of just taking it at face value.

Akashi turned to him and asked, "Why shouldn't I believe him? Tetsuya isn't known for lying and I already made my own assessment of the situation. Therefore, I concluded that Tetsuya must be telling the truth."

"Then what about you, Murasakibara, why aren't you reacting? And why are you here anyway?"

Murasakibara took out a box of pocky and started munching on them before replying, "If Aka-chin believes it, then I believe it. And Aka-chin asked me to come here with him."

Aomine simply stared at him with a deadpan expression at the simplistic answer before shaking his head and admitting to himself that it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Well, since we all know each other now, does anyone want breakfast? I'll be making pancakes." announced Kagami while making his way to the kitchen.

Murasakibara perked up at the word 'pancakes' and raised his hand to show that he wanted some pancakes too.

"Atsushi, don't make a child make you food," reprimanded Akashi.

Murasakibara let his hand drop and sulkily munched on his remaining pocky.

"I don't mind, I know how to cook. I'll just make a bunch so you all can get some." Kagami intervened. That got Kagami a childish smile from Murasakibara. The redhead uncomfortably nodded his head and headed to the kitchen.

"Tetsuya, is it okay for Kagami to cook for all of us?" asked Akashi.

"It's fine Akashi-kun. Kagami-kun is an excellent cook, even though he doesn't look it."

Aomine and Momoi nodded along agreeably.

Akashi let the matter drop before saying, "Now that that's out of the way, why did you call me to let me know of this?"

"We were hoping that with the help of Akashi-kun's resources, we'd be able to find a way to reverse Kagami-kun's condition. Momoi-san already agreed to help but we need more than that. Would you please aid us in this?" pleaded Kuroko.

Akashi nodded without hesitation and said, "I'll help, if only because you're my former teammates and my friends and because Kagami Taiga is someone I hold respect for."

Kuroko nodded thankfully and then they immersed themselves with small chat until the delicious smell of pancakes wafted to the living room from the kitchen.

Murasakibara was the first to get up and trail after the scent. Shortly after everyone else followed suit and observed the little redhead make delicious looking golden brown pancakes. There were two tall stacks of pancakes already sitting on two plates. Kagami heard them coming closer so he spoke up, "You guys can go ahead and serve yourselves. There's syrup and butter in the fridge and I think the plates are on that cabinet over there. You can get orange juice or milk if you like."

Everyone followed what Kagami said and served themselves some pancakes. Murasakibara got a huge amount closely followed by Aomine. Everyone else served themselves a normal amount and made their way back to the living room to eat in the low table once they got everything they needed. Kagami came in shortly with his own stack of pancakes with forks in hand. He distributed the forks around and sat between Kuroko and Aomine. He clasped his hands together and let out a quiet 'itadakimasu' before digging in. Everyone else followed suit and dug in. Appreciation was written across their faces and they greedily ate the rest of their breakfast.

When Kagami finished eating his two pancakes, he took notice of Kuroko's stare. He turned to look at him and asked quite rudely, "What're you looking at?"

Kuroko stared and his plate worriedly before replying, "Kagam-kun are you feeling alright? You ate very little so I'm a bit concerned."

Kagami looked back to his empty plate and then back at Kuroko and said questioningly, "What're you talking about? This is a normal amount."

"That's the case Kagami-kun. You usually eat about ten times as that."

Kagami's eyes bugged out of his head before saying, "I can't eat that many! Is it even possible? Besides, to me, the number of pancakes I ate was a lot. I haven't had this big of a meal in a while."

"This meal isn't very big Kagamin, it's just pancakes." said Momoi.

Kagami glared at her before responding, "Well it may just be pancakes to you, but to me this is a full blown meal that'll get me through for a few days."

"Why would you have to only eat this for a few days?" inquired Akashi.

Kagami's glare didn't lessen even though it was directed at Akashi. Either Kagami was very brave, or very stupid.

"Because," he started, his voice aggressive and eyes burning holes through them,

"I live on the streets."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dduuunnnn!!! So what do you think? Dramatic enough? Appropriate cliff hanger? Well? Haha, anyway, this is my longest chapter yet! Twenty-four pages! I’m proud of myself.
> 
> Anywho, thanks for reading and keeping up with my inconsistent updates! It’s appreciated.
> 
> ‘Till next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm back!! How'd you like my last chapter? Hehe, I'm under the impression that I left some of you on the edge of your seats 'cause of that last cliffhanger. Well, do not fret! You guys can continue reading.
> 
> And I'm soooooo sorry it took this long to update. I know you guys got a bit impatient, so here it is.
> 
> Onward!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

**Chapter Six**

 

_It's been a week since it happened._

_He wasn't so sure as to what_ it _was, exactly. But_ it _happened anyway, regardless of his lack of knowledge of i_ t. _Everything he had and every_ one _he had was ripped away from him in a matter of minutes._

_He was left behind in a confused and scared daze. People he's never seen before had burst into his home while his mom was out on a date. He was scared at first, wondering if they were going to steal everything they had. But then they started talking, one after the other, all of them saying something about his mom and an accident. He wasn't sure what was going on and why they were all in his home. He just wanted his mom._

_But no matter how much he cried out for her, yelled and wailed for her, she never showed up. He tried asking a police officer, one of the people who had barged in, but he wouldn't give him a straight answer. All he got was a shake of the head. He didn't know what that meant, didn't_ want _to know what that meant, but he needed his mom._

_The honking of a car and the screeching of tires snapped him out of his reverie. He startled so badly that he almost fell straight into the middle of traffic. He managed to catch himself, but just barely. A little more to the left, and he would've been road kill. He wasn't sure if he minded much right now. He straightened himself and continued on mindlessly._

_He's been wandering aimlessly in the streets of Los Angeles since then._

_At first, he was in denial. This couldn't be happening, not now, not when things were finally getting better for them. And this was his_ mom, _the same woman who worked double shifts and denied herself food in order to make sure he was fed and had a roof over his head. The same woman who kept on moving despite hard times, despite dad leaving them and despite being in poverty. She was the strongest woman he knew, nothing could take her down. She was untouchable._

_And yet, if that was true, why was she not here anymore?_

_That thought had his eyes stinging. He had accepted it now. He knew—even though he had no idea how it happened—that his mom had died._

 

* * *

 

 A short arm reached for the top cabinet, almost but not quite reaching it, aiming to get the small chocolate sweet he had spotted earlier. It's been ages since the redhead had had any candy, he'd be damned if he couldn't get it. Kagami huffed irritatingly and with a determined look in his eyes, he stretched his arm as far as it would go, all the while standing on his tippy toes.

 After stretching all he could and still not being able to reach it, he was about to say 'to heck with it' and jump. But before he could, a ridiculously long arm sailed past Kagami and snatched away the chocolate.

 About to yell at the person who dared take away his sweet, he turned around and opened his mouth, ready to lash out, when the same sweet he was aiming for was shoved in front of his face. Startled, he looked past the sweet and up the arm of the accused, and was surprised to see it was the purple haired giant Murasakibara.

 Not knowing what to think of this, seeing that as far as he could tell Murasakibara was most likely to eat the chocolate than to offer it to anyone else; he silently took it and muttered a quiet thank you.

 The giant only nodded and left, but not before patting his head and mumbling a silent, "Kaga-chin."

 Still confused and a bit irritated that his head was being patted like a dog, Kagami wondered where this behavior was coming from. An hour ago, Murasakibara was completely indifferent towards him, if a little impressed and pleased by making delicious pancakes. Now here he was, being handed sweets and being called weird nicknames.

  _'If I'd known I was going to be treated like this, I wouldn't have told them anything. Not that I told them much anyway.'_

 When he let it be known that his previous place of dwelling had been the shady streets of Los Angeles, the reactions he received where pretty much what he expected.

 Momoi had screeched a loud, "WHHAAATTT?!!!" and pretty much ruined everyone's hearing. After that, she started babbling, saying things like 'oh my god, did you live in a dumpster?' or 'Kagamiiinnnnn, I'm soooo sorry!'

 Akashi looked a bit surprised but not by much. He didn't ask questions, only stared contemplatively at Kagami.

 Murasakibara had stopped eating his chips for once. A frown had etched on his face; his stare directed at Kagami while mumbling, "Does that mean you didn't eat junk food?

 Aomine looked pretty shocked too, but he didn't verbalize it. He only stared at Kagami incredulously, probably not believing that Kagami was homeless at one point. Then something weird happened. Aomine had stayed strangely silent afterwards, not speaking but having this shadowed look in his eye, looking all solemn and serious. It was odd, considering that Aomine seems like the type of person that makes a big deal out of things. But Kagami decided to not pay much attention to it and shrugged it off.

 Kuroko had hounded him with questions, demanding to know where he slept and if he ate anything and how did you end up on the streets, and _where was your mother?_

 Yes, that was the big question, wasn't it?

  _Where was your mother Kagami-kun?_

 After hearing that inquiry Kagami had placed an invisible barrier between his heart and everyone else. He gave them the simplest of responses, "I don't know." _'Probably dead,'_ he thought but didn't say, struggling to keep up the barrier that was being hit by the great sorrow and melancholy that that thought brought up.

 Kuroko didn't ask any more questions, seeming to know that they weren't going to be answered. After that the atmosphere had become too strained for him to bear, so Kagami excused himself without sounding too rude, and left to his room.

 And now here he was, scouring for food. He knows that he's already eaten pancakes a hour ago, but he couldn't help himself. There was perfectly good food a few footsteps away, there was no point in leaving it there to rot. Besides, this was supposedly his apartment, wasn't it? He was allowed to get what he wanted when he wanted.

 He went to go sit on the living room couch next to Kuroko, but made sure to leave space between them. Kuroko might be the person that has acted the nicest towards him, but he was still wary. Trusting somebody so easily went against every street gained instinct he had, even if said somebody was someone who was like a best friend to him back when he was five.

 Kuroko glanced at him with a small smile before going back to chatting with Akashi and Momoi. Aomine was half asleep on the armchair and Murasakibara wasn't in the living room, probably in the restroom.

 After taking note of everybody, Kagami gingerly began to unwrap the chocolate in his possession. Once it was open, he couldn't help but salivate a little. Without further ado, Kagami took a careful bite, savoring the delicious taste with every chew. Kami, this was heaven.

 Apparently, his internal bliss wasn't so internal, for Kuroko startled him a bit with an inquiry, "You like sweets, Kagami-kun?"

 Kagami snapped open his previously closed eyes and turned to look at Kuroko. He noticed that everyone else, including Murasakibara who had come back from the restroom, was paying some sort of attention. Kagami felt a bit irritated at that. _'Geez, now I'm expected to answer with words.'_

 Grunting a bit, Kagami responded, "Yeah, I guess. It's been a while since I had any form of candy."

 Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. The implications of him not having eaten candy in a while weighed heavily on the occupants. 'Tsk-ing', annoyed, the redhead decided to ignore them and their stares, instead opting to continue eating the rest of his chocolate.

 Once finished, he was about to leave again when Murasakibara stood up and made his way towards Kagami. The redhead backed up a bit, still not completely comfortable around these people and a little intimidated at his height, and prepared himself to fight or flight if the situation called for it.

 Instead, he was surprised yet again when this time, out of his own volition and without any prompting; the purple haired giant offered him a sealed box of pocky.

 Eyes wide, Kagami unconsciously glanced at Kuroko for reassurance, and took note that Kuroko looked surprised too, as well as everyone else in the room. Turning back, he figured no one was expecting this, so maybe accepting the offering wouldn't be a bad thing. Besides, not accepting it would be rude. No matter how much he's changed, his mother's efforts in instilling in him good manners weren’t in vain. He had learned, if only a bit, so refusing this would go against that.

 Sighing, he reluctantly took the offered pocky and pocketed it in his too big basketball shorts. He glanced up at Murasakibara and said, "Thanks."

 Murasakibara only once again patted his head before slinking back to sit on a stool.

 Disgruntled, and a little flustered, the redhead frowned a bit, feeling uncomfortable.

 "Well, it is time to take my leave. It was a nice change of pace talking to you, Tetsuya, Daiki, Satsuki." Akashi stood up and brushed imaginary dust off his clothes. He motioned for Murasakibara and like an obedient henchman, the purple haired teen stood up and followed.

 Kagami, with manners still guiding him, walked them out to the door. Before stepping out the door, Akashi turned to the shorter redhead. He gazed down at those unwavering crimson eyes and slowly raised his arm to lay a hand on Kagami's shoulder.

 "Taiga. It was nice meeting you again. I hope we can get along after this."

 Feeling peeved at being called by his first name without permission he shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and voiced out, "Call me _Kagami_. We'll get along fine if you do that."

 Kagami could practically feel the horrified gazes directed at him from the other occupants in the room. He didn't care though, he barely knew the guy so he wasn't entitled to call him by his first name so casually.

 Akashi, as opposed to what the rest had thought he would do, simply smiled and gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Alright _, Kagami_. Thank you for having us. We'll be leaving now. Atsushi, let's go."

 Nodding, Murasakibara followed out Akashi and was about to pat Kagami on the head, but Kagami saw this coming already so he dodged the hand, feeling no remorse for the pout the purple haired teen gave. Murasakibara, not about to lose, unexpectedly and rapidly moved his hand to Kagami's cheek and gave it a good pinch.

 Squawking in indignation, the redhead smacked the hand away and harshly shoved the teen out, and promptly slammed the door on his face. Huffing, he turned back to the rest of the people in his apartment.

 Momoi and Aomine still looked horrified, Kuroko being the only one who looked impassive right now. The slamming of the front door shocked the two out of their reverie and that was when Aomine started hounding him.

 "Are you crazy Kagami?! Akashi could've stabbed you with his scissors!!"

 "But he didn't," replied Kagami carelessly.

 "But he _could've_!! You don't know that guy, he's completely insane."

 "Aomine-kun, Akashi-kun wouldn't have stabbed Kagami-kun. He's changed. A bit." added Kuroko, seeming a bit unsure himself.

 "Well whatever, he's gone now so it doesn't matter." said Kagami.

 Aomine grumbled to himself, deciding not to continue the conversation. He took out his phone and checked the time, noticing that it was almost noon now. Deciding that he had already spent too much time in Kagami's place, he straightened up and headed to the door.

 "I'm leaving now. I already babysat that brat, no need for me to be here anymore." He raised his hand in farewell and stepped out the door.

 "Dai-chan!! Wait for me, I'm coming too!" yelled Momoi. She quickly said her goodbyes to Kuroko in the form of a suffocating hug. Kagami, fearing his safety, only allowed Momoi to ruffle his hair a little, pretending not to notice how she looked a little disappointed. She then dashed out and chased after the retreating blue haired teen.

 "Well Kagami-kun, I'm afraid I have to leave as well. I have to run some errands for my parents. Please stay here and stay safe. I'll see if I can send someone from Seirin here in a while to check up on you."

 "I don't need people checking up on me. I know how to take care of myself." grumbled Kagami. Kuroko only gave him a fond smile and said goodbye one more time before departing.

 That left Kagami alone, standing in the middle of the too big living room and surrounded by this unfamiliar place. He let out a breath, his sigh echoing a little. Suddenly, this place felt way too empty, not counting the minimal furniture in the apartment.

 "What do I do now?"

 As expected, no response came.

 Feeling down all of the sudden, the little redhead went ahead and lay down on the couch, catching wisps of distant memories filled with laughing teammates and the sound of a bouncing ball.

 

* * *

 

 Running down the street and being chased by older bigger men filled Kagami with a sense of familiarity.

 Turning sharply around a corner, Kagami dashed forward while throwing a taunting leer at the stumbling cursing men behind him.

 Snickering a little to himself, Kagami thought that this was more like it. Being shut in his apartment all day yesterday had him feeling a bit antsy. That Furihata guy had briefly dropped by the day before to come and 'check up on him.'

 He snorted in disgust when he thought about it.

_'How many times have I told them that I can take care of myself? I'm sure I can do that better than that mousy guy that came to check up on me yesterday.'_

 After that, he was left alone for the rest of the day. He did receive several calls though. One from Kuroko informing him that the next day would be a Monday so therefore he was going to be left alone for the better part of the day, and then several others from Momoi, Kiyoshi, and Kise. All of them asking if he was alright and needed anything. He put them at ease and was left alone afterwards.

 He had spent most of the day inspecting his home and rummaging through every little nook and cranny he could find. He had found pictures of him and people he didn't know, and also some with the same people in the picture Aomine had showed him.

 He spent some extra time observing those. Kagami couldn't get over the fact that they all looked so....happy. Even he himself looked happy! He wouldn't have thought that possible after his mom had...passed. Finding happiness looked like a meek hope after that had happened. But looking at all these pictures... It made him want to believe again.

 After having had his fill, he carefully put them back where he had found them and went to go play some video games he had spotted earlier. He made himself dinner a while later and went to sleep after that.

 Waking up the next day to the same thing made him restless. So he decided on going out to explore a little. Since Kuroko and rest were attending school at the moment, no one could stop him from doing just that.

 And now he was here, dodging pedestrians and running barefoot towards a park.

 Hearing footsteps getting close behind him, Kagami sped up as he entered the park. He glanced behind himself and took note that the men were too close for his taste.

 _'They're fast, I'll give them that.'_ Speeding up even more, he left them behind in the dust. _'But not faster than me,'_ he thought to himself with a feral grin.

 The redhead jumped behind some bushes and hid there. He calmed his rapid breathing and watched as the three men that were chasing him sped past his hiding spot while angrily questioning to themselves where the heck he had gone.

 "Fuck, let's look for that brat over there. Come on!"

 The three men dashed away and when they were out of sight, Kagami got out from behind the bushes. Feeling a bit smug, he strutted to the nearby swings and told himself he deserved a little fun as a reward for outrunning those losers.

 Pushing himself off the ground once he was seated on the swing, he let himself go and enjoyed the feeling of flying that the swings brought. He always did love the swings for that. It gave him a great feeling of freedom and he couldn't help but love the feeling of the wind wiping through his hair. He almost lost himself in the sensations of it all, but he wasn't lost enough to not hear the approaching footsteps in front of him.

 Snapping his eyes open, he almost shouted in surprise when a tanned hand snatched the chained rope of the swing and brought him to a full stop. He was jostled violently and was almost sent flying out of his seat during the process. Once he was stable enough, he burned holes through the jerk that had stopped him from swinging.

 And surprise surprise, who would be enough of an asshole to almost hurt a little kid? None other than Aomine Daiki, that's who.

 "You Ahomine!! Why the hell would you do that, you jerk?!!"

 Aomine only stared impassively into furious ruby eyes.

 Getting enraged at the lack of response, Kagami proceeded to chew Aomine out, letting out curses that a nine year old should not know.

 A little surprised at the small redhead's vulgarity, Aomine looked around and found himself at the receiving end of disapproving glares given by the mothers all around him. Some even covered the ears of their children! Feeling like a scolded child, he shoved his open palm on top of Kagami's cursing mouth in order to shut him up.

 "Shut up you idiot! We're going to get chased out of the park if you don't stop cussing like a sailor! How do you even know those words anyway?!"

 Getting muffled out of his rant, Kagami took note that yes; the mothers all around them looked ready to take out the pitch forks and torches. In turn, Kagami glared at them with all his might, his eyes taking on a scorching heat that could pulverize you on the spot, not caring in the slightest that the people here disapproved of him. He smirked in satisfaction when most of the women and children's eyes widened in slight fear and decidedly turned away from him. The mom's hurriedly rounded their children together and fled the scene, not wanting to face the scary kid with the red eyes.

 Cackling a bit on the inside, he turned his red eyes to a bemused Aomine. Noticing that a tanned hand was still preventing him from speaking, he remorselessly bit in to it.

 "Fuck!"

 Aomine snatched away his hand and cradled it to his chest. He inspected it and noticed that there were only very deep indentions of teeth, but no blood was spilled. Still, that hurt like hell. He glared hatefully at the smirking redhead.

 Before Aomine could snap at him, Kagami declared, "There are no people here anyway. What does it matter if I cuss a little?"

 Aomine took note that he was right. The park was now deserted, with them being the only ones in it. He reluctantly acknowledged to himself that Kagami did a good job of scaring them off, but he was still a bit disturbed that a kid could affect adults like that.

 "What are you even doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

 Directing his attention back at Kagami he scoffed, "I don't need to waste my time in there. I'm skipping, obviously."

 Kagami shrugged in reply, not really caring what Aomine decides to do with his life.

 Aomine, on the other hand, was immensely curious as to why the little redhead was getting chased by three men earlier. He had spotted Kagami when he was passing by the park. It wasn't difficult to notice a little red streak getting chased by cursing men.

 "Why were you getting chased by those guys?"

 Kagami had meanwhile mindlessly started swinging back and forward. After hearing the question, he thoughtfully hummed to himself and responded with an uncaring tone, "Oh, them? I was just having a bit of fun."

 Aomine furrowed his brow. Why would running away from men, which will probably try and beat you up if you get caught by them, be any fun?

 "But why were they chasing you?" persisted Aomine.

 Kagami snickered and responded, "Haha! Well I was bored as hell back at my apartment, so I decided to go out. I was near this ramen stand when I heard those guys starting a riot with the old man in charge of the stand. Tch, they were being real jerks." Kagami frowned when thinking back on that encounter. Honestly, who bullies an old man into giving you free ramen?

 Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he continued, "Anyway, they were being annoying, so I flipped their ramen bowls over their heads!" Kagami laughed at the end. "You should've seen their faces!!"

 While the redhead continued laughing, Aomine stared at him thoughtfully. He just realized that his rival, as mean faced and as rude as he may be, was actually very.... _nice_. You wouldn't think of it by just looking at him. He's crass and wouldn't think twice of punching you in the face if you so much as breathed on him, but proven by what he was just told, Kagami was actually...a good guy.

 Actually, thinking back on it, there were signs of Kagami being really nice. He cooked them breakfast and was actually pretty decent to new company. Heck, he even offered him the spare bedroom for him to sleep in.

  _'What am I thinking? It doesn't matter that he's a good guy. He's still annoying as hell.'_

 Pulling himself out of his stupor, he interrupted the redhead's insistent laughter, "Tsk. Well, don't tell Tetsu you did that. He'll probably chew my head off if he finds out that I did nothing to stop those guys from coming after you, even though I had nothing to do with it. Damned overprotective mother-hen." Tōō's Ace muttered the last part resentfully.

 Kagami hummed agreeably. Kuroko _was_ overprotective, that much he could tell. Every time they've been in each other's presence, the teal haired teen always seems to be hovering around him, asking him if he needed anything and the like. It's probably some misguided attempt to make him feel more comfortable about being here.

  _'Not that it's working,'_ he thought to himself.

 He still didn't trust most of them. Though Kuroko was slowly becoming an exemption, if only because he was sort of a best friend a few years ago. And surprisingly enough, Aomine was up in the running for second place.

 So far, Aomine hasn't been dishonest with him in any way. He told him about the surprising revelation that he's actually sixteen (he still couldn't get his head around that), he doesn't mince words at all, and he treats him like he would to a person his own age.

_'Well whatever, he's still an aho.'_

 "Oi, let's get you out of here in case those guys decide to come back. I don't need Tetsu on my tail." The blue haired ace turned around and started walking away without even waiting for a response.

 Kagami, annoyed at Aomine's attitude, swung himself as high as he could go, and when he was at his highest, he let go of the chains and let himself fly out of the swing...

 "Hey AhoMIINNEEEEE!!"

 "What the—oof!!"

 ...and right on to an unsuspecting ace.

 Aomine staggered, the unexpected weight on his back causing him to become unbalanced, and almost fell flat on his face if it weren't for his awesome reflexes. Kagami gripped on to the blue haired teen with both arms and legs, not letting go and keeping a firm grip, making it harder for Aomine to balance himself.

 "What the HELL Bakagami?! Get off me you leech!" Aomine exclaimed, completely caught off guard and therefore not reacting like his usually chill self.

 Cackling, Kagami let go before both of them fell and stared with eyes full of mirth at Aomine's ruffled countenance. It was totally hilarious seeing Aomine like this. His usually unconcerned eyes were now filled with annoyance and his hair even looked messier than usual. Kagami counted this as a win for him.

 "Get over here you jackass! I'm gonna pummel you—where are you going? Oi, get back here!!"

 The redhead wasn't going to listen to Aomine's rant, so he had started jogging away before Aomine could make do on his threats. Also, the bluenette had a point. Those guys could come back here and look for him. Better leave the premises. Aomine could follow, or he could stay behind. It didn't matter to Kagami.

 And off he went.

 "Hey! Where do you think you're going—! Agh, nevermind." Aomine angrily muttered to himself about stupid brats and he better not get into any more trouble or Tetsu will have his head.

 So resignedly, he followed the little redhead who was quite a ways away already. He picked up his pace and was regretting skipping school today of all days.

 "Bakagami," he muttered.

 

* * *

 

 Aomine wasn't sure where they were any more. He'd been following Kagami for at least fifteen minutes already, but it looked like the nine year old was going to keep on going.

 Their surroundings were made up of cruddy looking apartments and dead grass with trees everywhere. Men with ugly expressions were loitering around every corner, smoking a cigarette or some other substance. Graffiti littered the walls of the surrounding buildings.

 Basically, they were in a very shady part of Tokyo.

 He has to be honest with himself, he felt a bit anxious being here. I mean, who wouldn't? For all he knew, he could be surrounded by mass murderers and he would have no idea.

_'Damn it Kagami, how do you even know of this place?'_

 Just as he was about to call out to the redhead and drag him out of here, Kagami turned sharply into an equally shady street. Aomine cursed and hurriedly followed after him.

 When he rounded the corner he spotted the bright red color of his rival's hair, which contrasted greatly with their grey and droopy surroundings, standing still in front of an apartment building.

 Aomine jogged up to Kagami and stood next to him. He was about to order the kid to get the hell out of here, when he took notice of the nine-year old's expression. Any words of annoyance he had faded once he took in how serious the little redhead looked.

 Tōō's Ace looked back at the apartment buildings. They weren't much to look at. There wasn't anything noteworthy, in fact, it looked identical to all the other apartments in this neighborhood; run down and in need of some serious hygiene inspection. Aomine didn't get why Kagami had the sudden urge to stop and observe them so seriously.

 Aomine, out of the corner of his eye, spotted a few men moving closer to them, their gaits purposeful and if Aomine read them correctly, a little threatening. He reached out and tugged at the redhead's arm and spoke up, "Kagami, c'mon. We're getting out of here. There's some people here that will welcome us if we don't leave _. Now_." Aomine motioned to the men that were getting closer by the second.

 Kagami seemed to be snapped out of a trance and stared up at Aomine confusedly before the words he said finally registered. Kagami glanced behind him, and sure enough, some people were coming towards them. He shook off Aomine's arm and started moving away from those men, and made his way back out from where they came from.

 Aomine followed wordlessly, though he was a little irritated that he got dragged here and now had to go all the way back.

 Once they were out into the more crowded streets and were surrounded by familiar places, Aomine finally decided to speak up.

 "Why the hell did you go there anyway? Both of us could've been killed or something."

 Kagami stayed silent, the same serious expression from before still clouding his features.

 Getting annoyed at the lack of response, Aomine continued talking bitingly, "I mean, who would even live there willingly? That's as low as one can get. Whoever lives there has got to be piss poor or had a complete failure of a life."

 Aomine continued walking and didn't notice that Kagami's expression had slowly started changing into one of frigid fury.

 Not receiving a response, again, the blue haired teenager turned to Kagami and finally noticed the tense atmosphere that hanged heavily between them.

 Raising a confused brow, Aomine asked, "What crawled up your ass and died—"

 "My mom and I used to live there."

 The frigid response had his words die a painful death. Instead, his mouth hanged open in an unsightly manner, slack from complete disbelief.

_'Holy shit, I'm such a dick.'_

 Aomine didn't know what to say. He had no idea that Kagami used to live there so it wasn't his fault that he misspoke.

_'If it isn't my fault, then why do I still feel like such an ass right now?'_

 Letting out a frustrated breath, Aomine ran a hand down his face, feeling like if he didn't tread carefully he'd accidentally step on a land mine and the results would be devastating.

 He stared at Kagami from the corner of his eye, taking in his still frosty expression, which was pretty odd for Kagami to have. Ever since he's met him, Aomine has never seen Kagami like this, his anger controlled and steely. Kagami's usual way of expressing anger, as far as Aomine could see, was exploding all over the place. He'd shout and curse, maybe throw in a punch or two, but never like this. It honestly disturbed him a bit.

 Contemplating on what to say, he carefully tested out his words in his mind before speaking up in a manner unlike his own, "Look... I didn't know you use to live there. I was just saying what I thought about the place."

 Aomine's pride prevented him from apologizing fully. He'd done it once already, back when Kagami was five (wow, that's such a weird thing to think about). He didn't think he could do it again.

 The redhead still didn't speak, but his previously furrowed brows relaxed a bit but not completely.

 After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, at least on Aomine's part, Kagami got a hold of Aomine's wrist and started pulling to a nearby Maji Burger. Aomine flinched a bit, having not seen coming the unexpected touch. He decided against pulling back, figuring out that this must be Kagami's way of accepting his half assed apology. It still didn't make Aomine feel any less uncomfortable though.

 Once they were through the establishment's doors, Aomine shook off the small hand. He turned to Kagami and raised a brow, silently asking what they were doing here.

 Kagami gave a little smirk before saying, "You're treating me to Maji's."

 He really should've seen this coming. The redhead was all about food and basketball back when he was still a teenager. Aomine remembers that one time when Kagami had sat with him in a booth because the place was crowded. The guy had a literal _mountain_ of burgers on his tray. He briefly wonders when he started eating so much. The current Kagami could only eat about two pancakes, so how did that progress into piles of burgers?

 That didn't matter now though, this Kagami wanted him to _buy him burgers_. Aomine might've sort of apologized, but that didn't mean he suddenly gained a nice streak and would do a nice gesture like buy Kagami burgers.

 So he flatly refused.

 Kagami looked a bit indignant before frowning and saying, "Aw c'mon. I haven't even had breakfast yet."

 "No way. Why would I even buy you anything?"

 "'Cause you feel like a jerk for insulting my home and you want to repay me with burgers?"

 "Pfft, no."

 "Don't be such an Ahomine. I've always wanted to come here and now that I'm back in Japan, you can totally treat me to some burgers."

 "Don't be an idiot, you've already been here before."

 Kagami frowned confusedly before denying, "No I haven't. When I lived here, we couldn't afford to eat out. You know, we didn't live there because we chose to, Aomine."

 Aomine hesitated before stating, "Well, you can apparently afford to come here now. You're not a nine-year old anymore, remember?"

 Actually, it seemed that Kagami didn't remember, judging by his 'oh yeah' expression.

 "That's right... I forgot about that."

 "Idiot."

 "Shut up! It doesn't matter if I'm actually older, I still feel like I'm nine. I have no memories stating otherwise."

 Kagami had a point, he supposes. But he wasn't too sure, since he still didn't have any idea how any of this works. Magically de-aging doesn't just happen. He had no reference so he was still a bit lost.

 "Anyway, just buy me a burger. Or I'll tell Kuroko that I was being chased by big, scary men, and you didn't even help me, even though you were right there."

 That had Aomine glaring at the kid hatefully. "You wouldn't," he dared.

 "Try me," Kagami challenged back. "I do have Kuroko on speed dial, you know." As he said this, he took out his red phone from his too big basketball shorts.

 Glaring into those devious red eyes, Aomine got the feeling that he would actually call Tetsu and tell him that ridiculous lie. And Tetsu would believe it, of course.

 Growling, Aomine turned sharply to the counter and gave his order.

 He heard that stupid kid laugh behind him and telling him that he'll go save them a booth. Aomine didn't care anymore. Let him do whatever he wants.

  _'Stupid Kagami. I'll definitely have him pay me back for this. When he's back to normal.'_

 Finally, he received his order and took the tray. He searched around for bright red hair, and he managed to spot him. But unfortunately for him, said red-haired person was sitting next to someone with suspiciously green hair.

 Groaning once he confirmed that the person was indeed Midorima, he reluctantly made his way towards them.

 He arrived just in time to hear Midorima spouting out his Oha-Asa divination, "....Cancers are ranked low today and it has been recommended to keep company with a Leo in order to ensure my luck."

 "... Okay. Hey Aomine, do you know these guys?" asked Kagami while motioning to Midorima and Shutoku's point guard, Takao.

 Setting his tray down and sitting across from Kagami and next to Takao, he muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, "I wish I didn't."

 Midorima bristled in indignation while Takao only laughed in good nature.

 Aomine ignored both of them and tossed Kagami his burger. Kagami deftly caught it and unwrapped it before burrowing his face in it. After a few seconds of just watching Kagami eat his burger ravenously, he was distracted by a dreaded question.

 ".... How come he looks like Kagami?"

 Everyone stopped eating and watched as Takao scrutinized Kagami.

 "Uh..." Aomine was unsure of what to do.

 Apparently Midorima wasn't, "Are you blind Takao? That _is_ Kagami."

 After a pause, Shutoku's point guard started laughing, "Pffthahaha! Yeah right Shin-chan. Who said you didn't have a sense of humor? This is clearly a joke, hahahaha!"

 He continued laughing until he noticed that everyone else was deadly serious.

 "What? No way, you've got to be kidding."

 "They're not kidding. I am Kagami Taiga," said the little redhead, staring seriously into Takao's eyes.

 Takao's eyes widen and then narrowed, studying Kagami carefully. After a few seconds of this he spoke up disbelievingly, "How did this even happen?"

 Aomine sighed while Kagami simply shrugged and went back to eating his burger. Midorima decided it was his turn to speak up, "We are not certain. Kuroko recently informed us of this a couple of days ago. All that we know is that a mysterious bright light consumed Kagami and he suddenly became several years younger."

 "Although...last time I saw you Kagami, you were a five-year old. How come you look older now?" questioned Midorima while pushing his glasses up his nose.

 "No idea."

 Dissatisfied with the simplistic response, Midorima turned to Aomine for answers.

 Resigning to the fact that he had to actually speak and put effort he said, "Seirin, Kise, Satsuki, and I were at Kagami's place a day or two ago. We were just eating curry when he was engulfed in this weird light again. It burned this time though, " he added the last part while glancing at his burned fingers.

 Kagami had stopped eating and was now listening to Aomine intently. Seeing as he couldn't remember how this had happened, he was really curious. When Aomine mentioned the light burning, Kagami glanced at his fingers as well and felt a little guilty when he saw their harmed state. He didn't remember emitting that weird burning light, but he felt bad about it anyway.

Aomine continued, "After the light went away, Kagami came out as he is now. He's nine right now and currently only has memories of when he was nine. And of us when he was five. Anyone else he's met will probably only seem vaguely familiar to him right now."

 Once he was done, he let the information sink in. Midorima nodded understandably while Takao still looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a while, a smile broke out on his face while addressing no one in particular, "So we have the younger version now? Haha! This is too much. But this could be a lot fun."

 Kagami just raised a questioning brow before continuing to eat.

 "Don't be silly Takao, this is a serious matter. Who knows what could happen if we don't do something about it," said Midorima.

 "Aw Shin-chan, you care about what happens to your friends!"

 "Shut up Takao."

 Ignoring their antics, Aomine finally started to chow down on his own meal.

 Kagami, attempting to make conversation, even if these people were a little weird (especially the green haired one), asked Midorima, "So what's Leo's horoscope today?"

 Caught off guard at the inquiry, Midorima flustered slightly before taking out his phone and scrolling down until he found Leo's horoscope.

 "It says: Today Leo's will face some problems. Be careful with whom you interact with and where you decide to go, trouble can come your way if you're not cautious. Keeping company with a Virgo is advisable. They will help you remain safe. Your lucky item is a salt shaker."

 Kagami blinked at the divination and found it a little freaky at how accurate it was. Before he could actually believe in what it was saying he asked Aomine, "What's your sign?"

 "Virgo," responded Aomine tonelessly.

 Kagami's eyes widened _. 'Holy shit this is weird.'_

 "Hmph, looks like Oha-Asa was correct. Not surprising. The Fates work in mysterious ways," Midorima said haughtily.

 "Wow, this is actually pretty cool. Hey Midorima, can you update me daily on the horoscopes?"

 Midorima's eyes widen in surprise. There goes Kagami again, calling his supposedly lame hobby _cool._ Midorima lost his composure for a second when he spluttered out, "I-I'm not y-your personal cell phone! Do it yourself."

 Kagami pouted a bit, unconsciously, and said, "But I don't know where to look for it."

 This time Midorima could do nothing to stop his blush from rising. Takao laughing hysterically didn't help either. He turned away from Kagami before adjusting his glasses and responded with, "F-fine. But only because you're a Leo and today Oha-Asa advised me be in the company of one."

 "Don't be such a tsundere Shin-chan!" Cackled Takao.

 "I'm not a tsundere!"

 Aomine simply rolled his eyes at their antics. He checked the time and noticed that school had ended an hour ago. Knowing Tetsu, he'll probably go straight to Kagami's in order to check up on him.

 He stood up and threw away his trash. He motioned for Kagami to follow while saying, "C'mon, let's go. Tetsu will be looking for you soon."

 Without bothering to say goodbye, he went ahead and left. Kagami shook his head at his rudeness and said quick goodbye's to the Shutoku pair.

 "Bye Kagami! I'll make sure Shin-chan keeps in touch. He won't do it himself 'cause he's a tsundere!"

 " _Takao!_ "

 Kagami caught up with Aomine and kicked him on his shin for not waiting for him. Aomine yelped and pinched then pulled his cheek in revenge. Kagami growled at the rough treatment and swatted the hand away, and afterwards rubbed his sore cheek.

 Aomine snickered a bit and Kagami let show a reluctant smile.

 _'Today was okay,'_ he thought to himself.

  _'Maybe these people aren't so bad.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yo! This chapter got you some nice AoKaga interactions. Again, I'm sorry for being super late, but I had some major writer's block. It's resolved now, so it's all cool. Tell me what you guys think of this chapter. I'll try to update as fast as possible.
> 
> Thanks for all the reviews, they really make my day.
> 
> 'Till next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey! I didn't take too long this time!! *enthusiastic cheering in the background* Thank you, thank you *bows*.
> 
> Anyhow, since I'm on break and my teachers were merciful and didn't assign homework, I have free time! Yay for us!
> 
> So here it is guys, the next chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> Oh wait! Some of you are kinda confused on the timeline. I'll quickly clear things up for you guys at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Now for real this time, enjoy~
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

**Chapter Seven**

 It was Friday now and Aomine _still_ couldn't figure out why he was going out of his way to meet up with Kagami.

 After that first accidental meeting on Monday, Aomine had kept on ditching school around the same time since then. He'd go to the park after leaving the train station, unconvincingly telling himself that it was just a coincidence that it was part of his usual route, and 'coincidently' bump into the short redhead.

 Kagami hadn't questioned him, which he was a little grateful for. He wouldn't have an answer to that if he was asked.

 After getting the pleasantries out of the way, and by pleasantries he meant the usual bickering and the occasional physical harm, they'd start to walk around town. Aomine usually let Kagami drag him around to wherever he wanted to go, much to his increasing exasperation.

  _'Why am I even doing this?'_

_'You know why.'_

 Aomine grimaced. He did know why, but he wanted to deny it. It was a stupid reason and no one would let him live it down if he so much as casually mentions it.

 The thing was, after having witness how much trouble Kagami attracted, Aomine felt a tiny bit protective. Now don't get him wrong, he couldn't care less if Kagami suddenly decided to go hang out with mobsters. It's just, after being plunged into this situation without warning; he didn't have time to properly adjust to it. Different emotions were springing up one after the other, all of them mixing into one big unrecognizable mess that left Aomine feeling a bit raw.

 These emotions, ranging from complete bafflement (c'mon, who even turns back to their younger selfs?) to anger (that Bakagami sure knows how to piss people off), left him feeling unlike himself. He considered himself someone who didn't overly react to anything, whether it be positive or negative. Getting forced to deal with this ridiculous event led him to become a bit more responsive.

  _'It's completely reasonable,'_ he told himself _. 'This isn't normal so anyone would react the same way.'_

 Even so, that still wouldn't completely explain why he suddenly had a bit of protective feelings over the redhead.

 He had thought about it long and hard, considering that the only people he felt protective over were his mom, Satsuki, and Tetsu, and tried to come up with some answers as to why this was occurring.

 And it had finally dawned on him after a few hours of major soul searching.

 He felt indebted.

 Kagami had literally shone him the light again, as cliche as that sounds. He brought back his life's passion. He made basketball, which was equivalent to his life, worth playing again. He had forced him out of his 'the only one who can beat me is me' facade by defeating him, something Aomine had thought was previously impossible. Aomine was the best, he had known that. Had known it with such bitter clarity that it had left him behind as someone who was cynical.

 All he had ever wanted was someone who could rival him in his favorite sport, was that too much to ask?

 But then he'd met him on that fateful day in the street ball court. Back then all he could think of was, _'This guy is Tetsu's new Light? How disappointing.'_ And he continued thinking of the redhead as disappointing. He couldn't allow himself to feel any glimmer of hope if all that was going to happen was to have his expectations crushed again.

 But then the impossible had happened. Kagami was matching him. Every move, every dribble, every fake, all of it, Kagami could keep up with him. And it was with a rush of elation and relief that he had finally, finally found someone who he could play against with all his might, that he had said, "I take back what I said, Kagami. You're the best!"

 It was only after his defeat and Kagami's offering to beat him any time, did Aomine finally realize what just had actually transpired. That loneliness, that aching that had been accompanying him ever since middle school, had suddenly reduced considerably. He had what he had longed for now.

 And he couldn't help but feel grateful towards Tetsu, who had promised him that he would meet his fated rival soon, and inevitably, he felt immensely grateful towards Kagami as well. This was all thanks to him, he had what he wanted thanks to Kagami.

 And now, quite reluctantly, Aomine had to admit to himself that he felt that he needed to pay him back somehow. Giving Kagami his basketball shoes had been an attempt of thanks. Still, he felt that he would never be able to repay Kagami in full. It was just too much what he did, he didn't think he could ever match up to it.

 So this right now, this feeling of protectiveness, roused from the need to pay Kagami back. The redhead was younger now and in Aomine's eyes, more prone to danger. He figured that he could maybe start paying his way back this way. Ensuring Kagami's bodily safety was the least he could do, he felt.

 Aomine was snapped out of his musings when he felt the now familiar hand pull at his wrist. He let himself be led, grateful for getting distracted out of his embarrassing thoughts.

 Wondering where they were heading this time, Aomine looked up and found himself in front of a street court. One he usually frequented, he took note.

 Kagami let go of his wrist and slowly walked up to it. There were some kids that looked to be around twelve or thirteen playing a three-on-three match. One team was obviously outmatched. Their moves were clumsy and they fumbled with the ball way too much. The other team seemed to have at least the basics down so they weren't as bad.

 Aomine was a bit curious as to why they were here. Don't get him wrong, he didn't mind much. The basketball courts were basically his second home. He was just wondering why Kagami brought them here. Thinking back on it, Kagami hadn't even mentioned basketball once, which had the blue-haired ace a little puzzled. Why wasn't this basuke-baka dragging him to the courts and demanding a one-on-one? He knew the kid knows how to play, he taught him, after all. The Kagami he knew wouldn't pass up a chance at playing a match against him.

_'Does he not...want to play?'_

 Snapping his eyes to the short redhead, he took note on how he looked kind of excited. It was reminiscent of how he used to look back when he was a teenager. So Kagami wasn't uninterested in basketball, that much he could see.

 He ignored the slight feeling of relief he felt.

 "You want to play against those guys?"

 Kagami looked startled at his question but quickly regained his sense and looked away before answering, "I haven't played basketball in a while, so I'm a bit eager to get back into it."

 Aomine was confused by this. "How come you haven't played? Knowing you, you'd jump at the chance to play against anybody."

 After a beat of silence, Kagami said in a low voice, "I've had other things to worry about."

 "Like what? Basketball is the most important thing." And Aomine meant it. He knew Kagami went by the same lifestyle. Basketball was everything for people like them.

 Letting out a bitter chuckle he answered sarcastically, "Oh _I don't know_ , how about making sure I have a place that is moderately safe to spend the night, or worry about how long it will be before I can eat my next meal?"

 Sucking in a harsh breath, Aomine had to remind himself that Kagami was homeless at one point.

_'How could I forget about that?'_

 Kagami felt a little bad about making the atmosphere a bit awkward between them so he tried to defuse the awkwardness by saying, "But I'm doing better now that I'm here so it's cool. I can play basketball again so...yeah."

 The redhead mentally cursed himself for his lack of eloquence, but he didn't know what else to say so that was that. Nothing else he could do about it.

 Not waiting for Aomine to answer, if he was going to answer at all, he gathered up his courage and walked up to the group of kids. He hadn't played in a while, what if he got completely crushed by them?

_'No. I can do this.'_

 He may be rusty, but he could do it. He's been playing since he was five and only stopped playing because of certain _circumstances._

_'Besides, it's better if I can't win.'_

 With that thought in mind, his confidence skyrocketed and he strutted up to them without any care for their current game.

 He caught the orange ball mid pass and casually made it spin on his index finger. He nonchalantly asked, "Can I join?"

 The kids were expectedly annoyed.

 "Hey kid, give the ball back and go bother someone else."

 The person closest to him, a plain looking brown-haired boy, made to reach out and take the basketball from him. Kagami reacted quickly and moved his hand out of the way. The boy huffed, annoyed, and this time moved with a little more speed. Kagami again dodged the hand, this time by dribbling the ball out of the way and on to his other hand.

 Kagami backed away and continued on dribbling the ball while tauntingly saying, "What, you guys afraid of being beaten by someone younger than you?"

 Another boy, this one being the tallest of the group, stepped up and declared, "Tch, as if you could even match up to us. Just look at you."

 The redhead looked down at himself and realized that he wasn't much of an impressive sight right now. He was still wearing too big basketball shorts. The shirt he was wearing today almost reached his knees, and he was currently barefoot. He grudgingly admitted to himself that he really did give off a pretty pathetic impression.

_'It isn't my fault that my future self doesn't have any clothes that fit me.'_

 He figured that he wouldn't even try to explain this to them, seeing as he'll probably be dubbed as crazy or something. Even he had to admit that this was pretty bizarre.

 "Just because I'm dressed like this doesn't mean I can't play," declared the redhead.

 "You aren't even wearing any shoes, how are you even going to play? Any one of us can crush you right now," haughtily said what Kagami now considered the leader of this group of kids.

 Sneering at him condescendingly, he said, "Oh yeah? I bet I could beat you in a one-on-one. You wouldn't even be a challenge."

 Now, Kagami knew he could go a little far sometimes and piss people off, judging by how the leader of the group was flushing with anger, but he just couldn't help it. People like these guys just left him itching to teach them a lesson. They needed to be knocked down a peg or two, in his opinion.

 Just as he thought that this guy might just try and punch him instead of accepting his challenge, the guy seemed to calm himself down and cockily said, "Alright kid, if you want to get beaten that badly, be my guest."

 Grinning a feral grin, Kagami dribbled up to the center of the court and waited until the rest of the kids cleared up the court. The guy, Jackass, as he'll now call him, sauntered up to him and stood in standard position in front of him.

 "First one to ten baskets wins," declared Kagami.

 This would be a little tricky, Kagami knew. He wasn't wearing any shoes and he hadn't had a proper game in a while. He figured that this would make it more challenging so he shrugged off his apparent handicaps and readied himself.

 _'I wonder what this Jackass will do once I crush him...'_ was the redhead's last lingering thought before he pounced.

 

* * *

 

 Aomine was afraid that he'd have to step in at some point. Kagami was acting like a complete arrogant bastard, and it honestly left him feeling a bit amused. The redhead was cocky, yeah, but he wasn't _this_ bad. Right now, Kagami kinda reminded him of himself. Yes, he knew he was an arrogant asshole so he couldn't deny it. Not that he ever would, mind you. This was just the way he was.

 It was even funnier watching how the other kids reacted to Kagami's taunts. They were getting justifiably pissed off, and some even looked close to letting fists fly. At this point, Aomine figured Kagami was just digging his own grave. Sure, he'd seen that Kagami could take good care of himself (the image of the redhead punching two of his teammates came to mind), but he was hopelessly outnumbered right now.

_'Not that he wasn't outnumbered before...'_

 True, Kagami had almost gotten away from all of them, and if it wasn't for Tetsu, Kagami would surely be wandering the streets right, confused and alone. But this situation Aomine considered different because the people Kagami was associating with right now would actually be willing to cause him physical harm. So he figured he had to play bodyguard and step up.

 That is, until the tallest kid accepted Kagami's challenge.

 Aomine drew closer to them and leaned against the fence that surrounded the entire court. This should be a little interesting. Aomine was curious for the outcome. Kagami was playing off the cocky challenger, yeah, but could he actually back up all his talk? After all, the other kid was taller and older than him. He might have some trouble.

 But then again, he had beaten people twice his age when he was around Kagami's age. Maybe Kagami would be like that too. After all, Kagami had to have retained some of his basketball sense, right?

 It looked like he was about to find out.

 The redhead seemed to suddenly gain a wild glint to his eye, the same one, Aomine notices, that was always present whenever Kagami played basketball. The nine-year old speedily lunged to the kid's left, going for the full drive and not even bothering to fake it out. He managed to get past the guy's defense, and dribbled up to the basket and made the shot.

 One basket for Kagami, zero for the other kid.

 The kid looked completely shocked. He hadn't even managed to turn completely around before the shot was already made.

 "Ha? Is that all you've got? Looks like this is going to be a little too easy."

 The kid snapped out of his daze and glared heatedly at the smirking redhead.

 "Shut up! I was just surprised! It won't happen again."

 "Yeah yeah," Kagami waved his hand dismissively at the raging Jackass and went back to the middle of the court to start over.

 Aomine suppressed an amused smirk. This was really starting to get fun. He continued watching as Kagami once again broke past the kid, but this time the guy wasn't surprised anymore so he caught up to Kagami and almost swatted the ball away from the redhead's grasp.

 Kagami maneuvered the ball to his opposing hand and stepped back before doing a 360 spin around the kid and sprinting up to the basket before scoring once again.

 The kid began looking enraged; obviously not enjoying getting his ego beat by not being able to keep up with a nine-year old.

 By the time Kagami made his third basket, the kid decided to start playing dirty.

 When Kagami went for the drive again, the kid extended his leg and tripped the redhead. Kagami fell with a painful thud on his hands and knees. The older kid took advantage of the currently incapacitated Kagami and snatched the ball away before making his first basket.

 "What the hell is your problem?!" shouted Kagami angrily.

 "Oh? I'm sorry, it was an accident, “replied the kid with a not-so-innocent smile.

 Kagami let out a growl from the back of his throat and stood up, ignoring his stinging palms and knees. He had decided now, he'd completely kick this kid's ass, no matter what.

 Aomine considered stepping in now, but watching Kagami's eyes flare with determination stopped him in his tracks. Nothing would stop the redhead now, so he sat this one out.

 The next few minutes consisted of a brutal massacre. Kagami was ruthless in his assault, making fake after fake, applying some advanced dribbling, and using his superior speed to his advantage. The older kid didn't stand a chance.

 And although Kagami's play is a far cry compared to how it used to be, Aomine was still mildly impressed. It wasn't every day that you witness something like this occurring; an obviously younger shorter boy crushing an older and taller kid.

 After making his last lay-up, Kagami was halfway in his turn to face Jackass, a taunt on the tip of his tongue, when a fist came crashing into his cheek. His head snapped back and he stumbled slightly while cradling his injured cheek in one hand, experiencing mild shock.

 Once it dawned on him that he was being hit because he was _good at basketball_ , a wave of rage overtook him and he pulled back his left arm as far as it would go before socking the kid right on the nose with a sickening crunch.

 The kid yowled and backed away, holding his bloody nose between his hands. Several other shouts of outrage soon followed, all of them coming from the other kids, he was sure. He prepared himself to go up against all of them when a large hand gripped his upper arm tightly. Getting startled, he reacted instinctively and let his fist fly up to the face of whoever was holding him.

 His fist got caught by another equally large hand, and this time he noticed it was tanned and slightly calloused. He looked up to meet the blue eyes of Aomine Daiki.

 After realizing who it was that was holding him, he struggled to get out of his grip.

 "Let me go Aomine!!" exclaimed Kagami while kicking ineffectively at the teen’s shins.

 Aomine ignored him and proceeded to threaten the other kids, "Get out of here, before I _force_ you to leave." He gave them a chilling glare that had the kids stumbling one after the other to get out of here.

 Once they were out of sight, Aomine let go of the still squirming redhead. When he was released, Kagami glared up at Aomine before shouting, "Why did you step in?!! I was about to beat the crap out of all them!!"

 Sighing, Aomine looked away before responding, "They would've overpowered you."

 Trembling a bit in rage Kagami shouted back, "You don't know that!! That bastard punched me on the face for no fucking reason. You should've let me―"

 "And you broke his nose; I think you got him back just fine."

 Aomine's cool response halted Kagami's rage fest for a moment. He had a point, the redhead knew. While he will only be sporting a shiner for a while, the other kid will have to have his nose fixed and healed. That could take a while, Kagami had firsthand experience.

 Still, that didn't mean Kagami wasn't pissed anymore. Deciding that punching Aomine wouldn't do any good, he grunted and stomped to the basketball that was left behind and started playing aggressively against an imaginary opponent.

 Aomine watched him impassively for a bit, waiting for the redhead to tire himself out. He was the same way. Whenever he was pissed as hell or just needed to burn off some steam, he'd play basketball until he couldn't feel his limbs anymore. He wasn't surprised that Kagami was the same as him in this way as well.

 By the time Kagami had finally exhausted himself, half an hour had passed. The redhead was bent over while leaning on his hands that were propped against his bent knees. He was panting heavily and wiped off sweat from his face with his shirt only to wince when the cloth came in contact with his bruised cheek.

 Adrenaline wearing off, he finally took notice of the aches and stings on his hands, knees, and face. Inspecting his palms, he scrunched up his face in distaste when he saw they were still bleeding, if only a little. He's knees were in the same condition. It must've been because he had continued playing basketball despite his injuries.

 He was about to poke his face to see how much it hurt when a familiar hand took hold of his wrist and prevented him from prodding at his cheek. Raising a questioning brow up at Aomine, Kagami wondered what he wanted.

 The blue-haired ace didn't look at him and instead pulled him towards a nearby drinking water fountain. Kagami allowed himself to be led wordlessly.

 Once they reached it, Aomine pressed the button that allowed water to spray out of the fountain. Understanding what Aomine wanted him to do; Kagmi stepped closer and rinsed his hands with the water provided to him. Once they were relatively blood free, he cupped his hands and gathered as much water as he could before splashing it onto his bloody knees. He repeated this until his knees were free of any more remaining blood.

 Figuring he was done, he turned back around and started to walk away before he was once again surprised when a hand gripped his arm and spun him back around.

 Tripping a bit, he was about to angrily snap at Aomine when he felt a calloused hand cup his bruised cheek non-too-gently. He winced at the pain that action caused and this time he managed to say, "Aomine you bastard that fucking hurt―"

 This time, his words were cut off when a thumb gently swiped his cheek.

 Stunned, he looked up at Aomine only to see him intently staring at his cheek.

 "You have a small cut on your cheek..." mumbled Aomine as a way of explanation.

 Still shocked, Kagami mutely nodded and let the teen do what he wanted.

 After wiping the small amount of blood that had been on the redhead's cheek, Aomine withdrew his hand and rinsed off any blood that was on his thumb before shoving his hand in his pocket.

 Then his eyes widened a small fraction when what he had done finally registered. He sneaked a glance back at the redhead and had to look away in embarrassment when he saw that Kagami was looking at him with a dumbfounded expression, a light blush sporting on his non-bruised cheek.

 Mentally cursing at his stupid impulsive action, Aomine put on his impassive facade with some difficulty. There was no need to let Kagami know how uncomfortable he felt with the situation. Turning his back to the redhead, he began to walk to Kagami's apartment.

 "Let's go. Tetsu is probably waiting for us."

 Snapping out of his bewildered daze, Kagami covered his blushing cheek in embarrassment (he could literally feel his skin rising in temperature) and followed after the older teen without complaint.

_'That Ahomine...getting touchy all of the sudden, he caught me off guard.'_

 Creating excuses was his current method of coping with what just happened and in order to make himself feel better.

_'Next time he tries that, I'll punch his face in.'_

 Nodding in order to reassure himself, Kagami caught up to Aomine and almost instinctively reached out to punch his side.

 Snickering at Aomine's curses, Kagami let himself flow into their usual mode of interaction. Now this, this he could deal with. This was normal. And it was fine with Kagami, who secretly enjoyed bickering with Aomine.

 This was all he needed.

 

* * *

 

 Tetsu, as expected, totally freaked out (and by freaked out he meant freak out in his usual Tetsu way, which wasn't much) when he saw Kagami's battered state.

 Also expected was the accusing glare directed his way.

 "Don't look at me like that, it's not like I did that to him," grouched Aomine, genuinely offended that Tetsu thought he'd do that to a kid, even if said kid was Kagami. He was a jerk, but not that much of a jerk, thank you very much.

 Moving his gaze back to Kagami, Kuroko inquired with a soft voice, "Are you alright Kagami-kun?"

 Kagami nodded with some difficulty, seeing as his face was currently being held hostage between two pale hands. Noticing his discomfort, Kuroko lightened his grip and carefully inspected the worsening bruise on his cheek.

 It was starting to become an ugly blue-purple color. It was pretty swelled and there seemed to be a small cut on his cheekbone. Gently skimming his fingers over it, Kuroko took note that nothing seemed out of place, as in there didn't seem to be anything broken or in need of a visit to the hospital.

 Finally releasing Kagami's cheek, Kuroko led the redhead to the couch and sat him down while he went to the kitchen and grabbed some ice. When he returned, Aomine was seated on the couch next to Kagami. Both of them were in the middle of bickering, throwing insults at each other almost reflexively.

 "...what, you think I'd actually hurt those kids? Don't be dumb."

 "You're the dumb one! If you weren't going to do anything, I still say you should've left them to me."

 "So you could get your sorry ass beat and then have Tetsu blame it all on me? No thanks."

 "Shut up Ahomine, I _so_ could've taken them! They were small fry!"

 "If they were so small, then why'd you get punched on the face? Bakagami."

 "That Jackass totally caught me off guard. I didn't think he'd―"

 "Kagami-kun, here's an icepack." Kuroko interrupted the duo and handed Kagami said object.

 "Ah, thanks Kuroko." Kagami flashed him a small grateful smile and proceeded to ice his injured cheek.

 Kuroko smiled himself, noticing that Kagami-kun was less tense around them. At least, he was relaxed enough to comfortably bicker with Aomine-kun and give a smile, as small as it was.

 Kagami hissed a little when the ice came in contact with his bruised flesh. He determinedly prevented any more unwanted noises from escaping his mouth. It didn't sit right with him to show this much weakness in front of anyone, even if the only people who were witnessing this were Kuroko and Aomine.

 "Wuss, can't even handle a little punch." Aomine taunted.

 _This_ was exactly why he didn't want to show any kind of weakness in front them. That Ahomine, what a bastard.

 Turning to face the smirking ace, Kagami shouted indignantly, "Who are you calling a―!"

 Before things could get heated, Kuroko cut in, "Aomine-kun, stop provoking a child like that. You're the older one here, please act your age."

 Aomine looked properly chastised and Kagami smirked at him in a gloating manner before Kuroko continued, "Now if you don't mind, could one of you please explain why Kagami-kun looks like he got in a fight," Kuroko eyed the redhead's knees and palms, "and fell from a bike at the same time."

 Both aces looked anywhere but at Kuroko, knowing that the teal-haired teenager will most likely not approve of what had happened.

 "Uh, well...you see, there was this guy..." Kagami reluctantly began.

 "Yes? What else?" Kuroko inquired while staring imploringly at Kagami.

_'Agghhh, he's doing it on purpose, looking at me like that. It's seriously freaking me out that he hasn't blinked yet.'_

 "Um...so I just wanted to play some basketball, but he was being a real Jackass so I challenged him to a one-on-one."

 Kuroko suppressed an eye roll. _'It's like you haven't changed much, Kagami-kun.'_

 "So I was totally winning but then I guess that Jackass was getting butt hurt 'cause he couldn't keep up with me, so he started playing dirty. He tripped me but I wasn't just going to let him do that."

 "Did you harm him?"

 "No."

 "Then what did you do?"

 "I completely crushed him." Kagami replied remorselessly while grinning a feral grin.

 Kuroko nodded in understanding and motioned for Kagami to continue.

 "And I was just about to turn around when I suddenly got punched out of nowhere!"

  "...and Aomine was just there, standing against the fence."

 "Don't bring me into this!" Aomine whispered harshly into Kagami's ear, lightly pinching his side, though it was all for naught because Kuroko was literally right there so he heard him anyway.

 "Why didn't you help him, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asked, his tone suggesting that he better have a suitable answer or he'd get Ignite Passed on some rather sensitive areas.

 Aomine gulped and responded with, "I-it's not like I saw it coming or anything! They were just playing one-on-one when that happened. Besides, I shooed the kids away before they ganged up on Kagami. And they would've, considering what Kagami did to their leader."

 Aomine added this last part with an evil glint in his eye, directing his evil gaze at Kagami.

 _'This is for throwing me under the bus,'_ that gaze said.

 Kagami, realizing what he was trying to do, paled and tried to distract Kuroko by saying, "B-but that doesn't matter anymore!!" Kagami waved his hands around him as if trying to dispel something from the air.

 "I'm here now and no one's majorly hurt―"

 "Except that kid whose nose you broke."

 Kagami cursed Aomine repeatedly in his head, wishing him the worst fate possible. He nervously glanced up at Kuroko and anxiously rubbed his hands on his thighs when he saw there wasn't any change of expression.

_'What is he thinking?'_

 "Kagami-kun..."

 Gulp. "Y-yes?"

 "..."

 "..."

 "... Good job.

 "I didn't mean to―! Wait, what?" Kagami was ready to defend himself but stopped short when he registered Kuroko's response.

 "I said: Good job Kagami-kun."

 "I...uh, thanks?" Kagami responded, very confused and unsure of what was going on.

 He wasn't the only one who was confused though. "What do you mean 'good job'?! He broke a kids' nose!" Aomine exclaimed.

 "Kagami-kun was only defending himself."

 "Tetsu, what the hell! I get threatened with Ignite Pass for something I couldn't even predict, and you praise him for breaking someone's nose?!"

 "I did not threaten Aomine-kun with Ignite Pass."

 "But it was heavily implied!!"

 With Tetsu still staring blankly at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about, Aomine groaned exasperatedly and roughly ran a hand through his hair. Great. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this guy.

 Why did he even bother anyway? Tetsu had an obvious soft spot for the Kagami, there wasn't any way that he'll blame the redhead.

 Kuroko and Kagami seemed to have moved on from the conversation and were now making plans for dinner.

 "Oi Aomine, you staying for dinner?" Kagami asked.

 Aomine shrugged and nodded his head. He might as well stay and eat. Kagami owed him for saving his ass earlier. Besides, he'd consider this as payment for having to deal with the redhead all week.

 "Make*karaage,"

 "I'm not your personal chef!" Kagami screeched.

 "Don't care. Make me karaage."

 Kagami growled at Aomine's demanding attitude. He should make something the blue-haired teen didn't like, just to spite him.

 But in the end, Kagami ended up making karaage. With Aomine whining about it every second and Kuroko saying that he wouldn't mind eating karaage right now, Kagami had no choice but to make it.

 The rest of the afternoon was filled with the two aces bickering and Kuroko's occasional attempts to calm them down. Laughter was heard every now then, and a light atmosphere filled the apartment.

 Eventually, the two teens had to depart to their homes, leaving Kagami alone in his apartment.

 The redhead sighed. It was too quiet. The room felt cold and after having spent so much time interacting with Aomine and Kuroko to suddenly being left alone, he was keenly aware of how lonely he felt.

 Deciding that instead of sitting on the couch with nothing to do, the redhead turned in for the night.

 Under his blanket, Kagami's last thought before slumber took him was _, 'Why did I decide to live alone...?'_

 

* * *

 

**Omake**

 "Kagami-kun, how did you get that bruise?"

 "I got punched in the face―"

  _*talking to person on phone*_ "Kise-kun, Kagami-kun has been hurt."

  _*Kise bangs through front door*_ "WHO HURT KAGAMICCHI!!"

 "How did you get here so fast―"

 "Who hurt Kaga-chin? I'll crush them."

 "Murasakibara?! What're you doing here?!"

 "Oha-Asa predicted bad luck for Leo's, what's happened to Kagami?"

 "Seriously how are you guys getting here so fast―"

 "Who do I have to stab?"

 "Akashi?!! Whoa, what're you doing with those scissors―!"

 "Damn, I didn't get to punch that stupid kid. Next time for sure."

 "Not you too Aomine! Why're you all here?!!"

 "Your safety is top priority Kagami-kun."

 "No one hurts Kagamicchi!"

 "It will be regretful if Kagami is hurt-nanodayo." _*does glasses thing*_

 "It's unacceptable to hurt my subordinates. I am absolute."

 "I'll crush anyone who hurts Kaga-chin."

 "The only one who can punch Kagami is me."

 "WE'RE THE KAGA-TENSHI PROTECTION SQUAD!!"

 "..."

 "..."

 "... Stupid rainbow heads."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *karaage is Japanese styled fried chicken.
> 
>  
> 
> A/N: Well there you go! Just as promised, right at the end of the week. The reason I was able to complete this was 'cause I was on brake. Today is my last day so I'm milking it for all it's worth.
> 
> So here’s the timeline explanation:
> 
> When Kagami was five, he and his mom lived in Japan. Since his dad left them when he was younger, Kagami’s mom had trouble maintaining the both of them. She worked a lot and all she could afford was that crappy apartment in a very shade part of Tokyo.
> 
> Later, when Kagami’s around eight, they move to L.A. because of circumstances (won’t reveal anything yet!). They live in a better apartment and all was great, but their happiness was short lived. Kagami’s mom got into an accident and as a result, he ended up homeless, unable to support himself or their apartment. His birthday was coming soon, but since he lived in the streets, he really didn’t have a good conception of time. That’s why he thinks he’s nine, but not being too sure about it.
> 
> He hasn’t met Himuro or Alex yet, if that’s what you guys are wondering. 
> 
> And that’s it. Everything else will be revealed later and I hope those who are confused have a better understanding now.
> 
> Thanks for reading and ‘till next time!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh......right. *clears throat* So....I may have, uh, slacked with this story. I won't abandon it though, so no worries there. But uh, yeah. So this happened:
> 
> I had at least 4,000 words of this chapter completed, when the device that I use for this story crashed. Once I had it up and running, I checked to see if it saved but lo and behold, of course it didn't save. In fact, it deleted everything!
> 
> I kinda yelled to the skies about the unfairness of it all and might've scared a few neighbors, but after that I was left unmotivated. But, with school starting, I realized that I haven't even made one update for this story, so I decided I should at least post up one chapter before I get swamped with homework.
> 
> So yeah, here it is. Sorry and all, hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of it's characters

Kagami awoke feeling a bit groggy, but at the same time, completely filled with adrenaline. He almost thought he was back in L.A. He remembers waking up like this over there all the time. He had to have his guard up constantly or he would really be done for.

So when he awoke that morning with the same feeling, he couldn't help but instinctively jump out of his bed and land in a crouch on the floor. Or at least, he would have, if not for the blanket that had impeded his movements and ultimately caused him to land ungracefully in a heap on the floor.

"Urghh." Groaning, he stood up and soothed a bruise that was surely forming on his arm. He looked around and once he confirmed he was in his room and not in L. A., he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes, he wandered out the room while absentmindedly trying to remember his dream. He was sure that whatever dream he had was the cause for his state when he woke up. But the harder he tried to remember, the easier it was to forget. Figuring it was a lost cause, he shrugged and rummaged through his fridge.

It's been a few weeks since he's been back in his homeland. He still had no idea how he ended up here and had no idea as to how to get back. Don't get him wrong, he didn't mind this place. In fact, he liked it a lot. Here, he didn't have to sleep in a rundown alley, or steal food from random people like some street rat. Which he was, but not the point.

Also, glaringly unlike L. A., here he had, well, _friends_.

He had accepted it now. People cared about him and his well being. Some of said people were Kuroko and Aomine. Kuroko, he wasn't surprised to have befriended. After all, he was his best friend a few years ago. Gaining back that friendship wasn't much of a struggle. And he wouldn't say that he minded having him around so much. Kuroko practically visited him ever day and stayed whenever he could. It was a nice change of pace, having someone to share his lonely apartment with him every now and then.

Aomine, on the other hand, _was_ a surprise. The older boy was an idiot, asshole, bastard, jerk, and any other words that shared the same meaning. Yet, asshole that he was, Kagami couldn't help but enjoy his time with him. Aomine didn't come over as much as Kuroko, but at least he met up with him outside of his apartment every now and then. The blue-haired boy claimed to never plan to purposely meet up with him. It was only a coincidence that they bumped into each other a lot, he said.

Of course, Kagami knew better. What he didn't know though, was if Aomine met up with him because he was bored out of his mind in school, or because he genuinely liked to spend time with Kagami. He liked to think that it was the latter. But of course, being the emotionally inept bastard that he was (conveniently forgetting he was also an emotionally constipated person), Aomine sure as hell didn't act like he enjoyed Kagami's company.

Sure, every now and then he laughed or grinned, but it was usually at Kagami's expense. He didn't mind that much, because he always got Aomine back one way or another. Still, the point was that he had found a friend within Aomine, but it wasn't the same friendship he had with Kuroko. It was....he didn't know how to describe it. Because bickering and hitting each other really didn't constitute as friendship. More like rivalry. And he was okay with that, surprisingly.

Besides Aomine and Kuroko though, the Seirin guys crashed at his apartment a lot. They'd show up unexpectedly, demanding to be fed and then hang out at the courts. Kagami put up a fuss at first, not liking having his space invaded so suddenly. Eventually, he got used to it and to them. They weren't so bad, as it turned out. They were actually really friendly, but kinda weird. He didn't mind though, so he could see why he would befriend them when he got older.

Other than them, the other rainbow heads visited too. Not as much as Seirin, Aomine, and Kuroko, but enough times to remind him that they were still there and they were still crazy. Kise was annoyingly cheerful, always trying to glomp him and ruffling his hair and generally being a total fangirl. He said this to Kise's face one day and the only thing the blond had to say was, "At least I make a pretty girl, right Kagamicchi?"

Kagami didn't deem to answer that and simply ignored him, which Kise started wailing at, of course. Midorima and that Takao guy, he usually met up with at Maji Burger. Takao was a funny guy and Midorima was still a tsundere. He didn't get why the guy seemed to turn red whenever he asked about his horoscope or just generally inquire about anything.

Murasakibara and Akashi, they visited less frequently than anybody else. Reasonably, he supposed, because they lived outside of Tokyo. But when they did, Murasakibara never failed to try and pinch his cheek and that freaky Akashi guy always tried to get away with calling him by his first name. Eventually though, he got tired of denying him this and just let the guy do what he wanted.

In the end, it seemed he had a lot of friends. He was surprised to find that he actually liked having them. So when he woke up a few minutes ago, he really couldn't be faulted to have felt such relief to find himself in Tokyo and not in L. A. Who could blame him, really? He had everything he ever wanted here.

_'Almost everything.'_

That traitorous little thought popped into his head, completely unwanted but not totally unexpected.

It was true. Kagami may have everything he ever wanted, but one thing was glaringly missing. His mom.

He still didn't know how his mom had passed. He didn't have any confirmation as to how he knew this, but he just had this feeling that what he was assuming is correct. Kagami was living in an upscale apartment, and had a decent amount of friends. Yet, he couldn't be truly happy until he got some kind of closure.

Shaking his head, Kagami decided that he didn't want to think about that anymore. All these depressing thoughts were making him, well, depressed.

The red-head felt like leaving the apartment for a while. His thinking was making his apartment feel oppressive.

So without further ado, Kagami quickly went to the restroom to take a quick shower, put on fresh clothes—which still consisted of too big shorts and shirts (he really needed to do something about that)—and went off into the city.

Unbeknown to him though, he left behind his cell phone which had just received a message.

_Today, Leo's rank the lowest. It is advisable to remain home and not go outside unless absolutely necessary. Your lucky item for today is a stuffed rat. ..._

 

* * *

 

 

Kagami walked down the streets of Tokyo with no particular destination in mind.

He'd been walking for over an hour now, every now and then entering a store to observe ridiculously expensive items that he could never afford, and then subsequently get shooed out by a store clerk. Really, just because he looked like a homeless boy didn't mean he was going to steal anything. Not anymore, at least. There was no need for it anyway.

The young red-head got distracted out of his musings by loud shuffling and scuffing of shoes that came from the alley he was currently passing by. Cautiously peeking around the corner of the wall, Kagami took note of the scene that was occurring before him. Once he registered what was going on, he had to control himself from stomping down the alley and punching some faces in.

Kagami wasn't unfamiliar with scenes like these. He's seen them plenty of times before in L. A. That didn't make them any less rage inducing, though. Four men of various heights were surrounding a terrified looking girl. By the looks of her uniform, the red-head guesses that she's a student. Maybe a middle schooler.

Her age didn't matter though. What mattered was what was about to be done to her if he didn't interfere right now. Though, rushing in guns blazing wasn't the best idea, he knew that much. Those guys were taller than him and looked to be heavily muscled. Upon closer inspection, he barely caught the shine of light against metal.

' _So they have blades too. Perfect.'_

The girl started whimpering, the men's ugly sneers and reaching hands petrifying her.

Kagami grit his teeth but exhaled sharply. He had an idea. Edging as close as he could get without being spotted, Kagami took a deep breath and shouted, "Police, over here! This is where I saw those men surrounding the girl!"

Curses could be heard coming from the alley before the men made a run for it. Once they were gone, Kagami quickly approached the girl, who was now slumped against the wall in relief, and spoke up, "Are you alright? They're gone now, so you're safe."

The girl snapped her head up in apparent fear before what he said seem to register in her mind. She looked around her warily before settling her gaze back at him. She stared at him for a long moment, making Kagami fidget slightly, before she burst into tears and snatched him into a hug.

Surprised, Kagami tensed up at the unexpected contact, but refrained from automatically shoving her away. He was aware that she needed this, so reluctantly, he let himself be squeezed and cried on.

After a few minutes of sobbing and choked out thank you's, the girl finally seemed to collect herself and slowly pulled away. Kagami decisively ignored the stains on his shirt and simply carefully observed her. She had light brown hair that reached her shoulders, the color matching her eyes which were slightly red and swollen. She seemed to be several years older than him. Her skin was fair and she seemed to be a few inches taller than Kagami.

Taking a breath, the girl once more said, "T-thank you. I don't know what would have happened if nobody had seen me."

Kagami nodded, accepting her thanks. "It's alright. Anyone would have done what I did."

The girl smiled at him wearily, looking exhausted. They both straightened up and the girl tried to make herself look presentable.

Once done, she once again looked back at Kagami. "I'm Shinozaki Amaya."

"Kagami Taiga." They seemed to regard each other for a moment before Kagami deemed the moment too uncomfortable. "Anyway, you should probably go home. Avoid alleys if you can. See ya."

With that, the red-head made his way to the mouth of the alley, already almost out of sight before a frantic, "W-wait!" made him stop in his tracks. Shinozaki caught up to him before stopping and nervously fidgeting with the end of her skirt. She bit her lip before finally saying, "I'm really grateful for what you did. A-and I just wanted to say that, if you ever need anything, I'd be willing to help."

Kagami made a surprised noise before shaking his head negatively. "N-no! It's okay! I don't need you to pay me back or anything! It's fine." The red-head was flustered, his cheeks coloring slightly. Shinozaki giggled, finding his face really cute. Kagami's blush intensified before sputtering out nonsense. The only thing that did was make the girl laugh even more. The young boy had enough and turned around to stomp away.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean any harm, you're just really cute!"

Kagami whiplashed. _"Cute?!"_

The girl nodded sagely before shoving her hand in her skirt pocket. She rummaged around until she pulled out a piece of paper and then got a pen from out of her backpack, which Kagami was barely noticing was there. She quickly wrote down her number before shoving the paper in Kagami's face.

"Here. If you ever need my help, call me."

Kagami opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut when she gave him big pleading eyes. Sighing, Kagami reluctantly took the piece of paper and shoved it in his shorts, ignoring the triumphant smile the girl gave him.

Shinozaki opened her mouth again, but unfortunately for her, and Kagami as well, they heard the unmistakable sounds of men arguing from down the alley.

"I'm telling you, there weren't any cops there. It was probably all just some gig to trick us."

"Damn it! If I ever find that little brat again, I'll wring their neck out!"

"Let it go. It's not like we ever even saw his face. We'll never know who it was."

"Who the fuck cares?! We finally had a treat in our grasp when—oh? What's this? Decided to stick around for more, cutie?"

Shinozaki's eyes widened in fear and Kagami urgently whispered to her to run and get away. She protested a bit, whispering that leaving him behind wasn't a good idea. She shut her mouth when he gave her a glare, telling her wordlessly to obey. She hesitantly nodded before hurriedly getting out of there.

"Hey babe! Where are you going? The fun hasn't even started yet!"

One of the men made to reach for her, but he didn't even get close to touching her. Kagami was already on the move and harshly pushed the man away, making the man stumble and collide against the wall.

All attention was on him now and Kagami felt an unfamiliar sense of dread wash over him. He didn't know why, he was involved in skirmishes like these all the time. So thoughtlessly shaking off the feeling, Kagami step forward and spoke, "Don't you guys _dare_ chase after her."

The responding sneers were enough of an answer to tell him that they were unimpressed.

"Ha? What's a little twerp like you gonna do about it?" One of the men stepped forward, his greasy hair reflecting the sunlight coming from outside the alley.

Kagami took a deep breath before pulling his arm back and swinging his fist on to the crotch of the man. The embarrassingly high-pitched squeal was enough of a compensation for Kagami. The man fell to his side and clutched his damaged jewels while whimpering in pain.

The other men, outraged on their companions behalf, stalked forward. The redhead was going to make a run for it, but before he could move, a gritty hand reached out and dragged him deeper into the alley. With a grunt, Kagami was thrown against the surrounding wall. A sharp _CRACK_ was heard as he made impact. He landed on the floor with a groan, the impact having had damaged his head.

Without wasting any time, Kagami shakily stood up and dazedly glared at them all. The men laughed in retaliation, completely disregarding him as a threat. He could see how they wouldn't take him seriously. He must've look a real mess, trembling and blood covering the side of his face. Well, no matter. He was going to show how much of a threat he really was.

Shaking off the blurriness of his vision and wiping off as much blood as he could, Kagami rushed at them, sloppily dodging a blow to his gut and responding by delivering a clumsy kick on the man's stomach. As clumsy as it was though, it did it's job. The man fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

Kagami felt a brief rush of victory before it was overshadowed by dread when he saw that the man stood up a second later, shaking off his kick like it was nothing. Getting angry, Kagami grit his teeth and recklessly launched forward again. Only this time he wasn't so lucky.

Before he could even reach his target, a kick to his side sent him skidding down the alley. Kagami coughed, blood spilling from his lips. He wheezed, trying to comprehend what just happened. He focused his blurry gaze on the person that had kicked him.

Of course. There wasn't just two or three guys. There were four.

He coughed again, this time hacking even more blood, coating his shirt in the red liquid. How did a kick even damage him this much? He looked at the men once more, taking note that they were getting closer, their malicious grins all he could make out of their faces. They were well muscled, and he noticed that the guy that had kicked him was wearing steel-toed boots.

' _Well that explains it. It also doesn't hurt that he's built like a truck.'_

Sluggishly, Kagami stood up, his chest heaving and his ribs aching. He must've cracked a few, then. He turned to face them, his mind trying to work something out, but coming up blank.

Distractedly, he noticed that one of the men was pulling out something from his pocket. Once it was out and clear to see, Kagami cursed under his breath. Knives. He forgot about the _god damned knives._

' _Shit, this isn't good....'_

He couldn't take them, not like this. He needed to get away. Now.

Kagami turned, limping away as fast as was possible in his condition. The mocking laughter of the men chased after him, making him aware that he was in deep trouble.

' _I really might die right here.'_

That though filled him with fear. He didn't want to die. He really didn't want to die. He had friends now! He _couldn't_ die!

Desperate now, Kagami fastened his pace, disregarding the aching of his ribs and his disappearing vision. He didn't make it far before he was pushed down to the floor. His chin slammed against the alley's dirty floor, cutting it open and adding a new wound to his self. He flipped himself so that he was on his back, any thought of getting back up being shoved out of his mind when his body refused to move.

' _Damn it!_ Move _!'_

Despite his demand, his body didn't respond. It was either too injured to move, or too scared to even try. Kagami didn't feel any shame when he admitted it was most likely the latter. Still not giving up though, Kagami crawled in a crab walk, only gaining a few pathetic inches of distance.

Cursing, Kagami harshly let his body weight fall on his elbows, supporting him from completely falling back. The men were within kicking distance now, completely surrounding him. The one with the knife was directly facing him, his fiendish grin sending cold shivers down Kagami's spine.

The man slowly inched the knife closer to Kagami, and suddenly his body forgot how to breathe. Kagami froze, not daring to move. With widening eyes and muddled vision, the red-head fearfully observed as the weapon got closer and closer to his person.

_'I...'_

The knife was closing in on his face.

_'...don't want....'_

It was so close now he could feel the sharp tip prickling his cheek.

 _'...to_ **DIE**!'

With a shout that sounded like it originated from a cornered animal, Kagami, with a final burst of adrenaline, smashed his fist as hard as he could against the fiend's face. He felt the bones giving in beneath his fist, the scream of pain bitterly satisfying to him. Retracting his fist, Kagami stumbled to his feet and took the opportunity to run as fast as possible.

His injuries no longer mattered. The concern for his fading eyesight was thrown out the window. His throbbing fist was a matter of inconsequence. The blood flowing freely down his face wasn't even registered. All he could think of was getting out of here, any other thought being suppressed by the sheer desperation and fear he was experiencing.

' _Run. Run. Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun RUN!'_

He kept on running, not knowing where he was going but not caring in the slightest. He didn't even notice when he couldn't hear footsteps following him anymore. All he cared to think about was to keep on going and to not stop.

So he ran.

And he kept on running until his body collapsed in the middle of a sidewalk. Kagami panted heavily, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as he could. His vision was basically nonexistent now. Slowly, his adrenaline faded, all his aches and wounds suddenly flaring up. He grunted, the pain being a bit too much. He laid still decided to wait it out.

Kagami didn't know how long he laid there, bleeding out on the pavement and his body steadily becoming numb.

_'Heh. At least I got away...'_

Although, that didn't seem to be saving him any grief. He was still injured and still bleeding. He was probably dying anyway.

' _Damn it...and all the trouble I went through...'_

Shinozaki flashed through his mind. Good thing she at least was safe. He hoped. It would really suck if she decided to get cornered again and completely disregard Kagami's warning to stay away from alleys.

' _Hey wait a minute....'_

His sluggish mind was slowly dredging up a forgotten memory.

_'I remember my dream now.'_

It wasn't really a dream. It was something that had happened to him in the past.

_'I was....being chased my some guys down an alley. And they beat me up real bad once they caught me. ..... Just like right now. It took forever to recover from those injuries.'_

Letting out a painful sounding chuckle, Kagami found a bit of humor in this situation. It was kinda ironic, dreaming about that and then having the same thing happen to him again. The redhead chuckled a bit more, but the sound was cut off with a violent torrent of coughs. Once he finished, Kagami breathed deeply and turned on his side to spill out some blood from his mouth.

He wondered where the people were. How come no one was stopping to help him? He looked around himself and saw he ended next to an empty park. It was just his luck that nobody was around.

With a sigh, he laid back down. He dazedly thought of how Kuroko was going to react once he saw him like this. He'll probably freak out and mother hen him all the time. That Ahomine will probably just call him a wuss or something and make fun of him for letting himself get beat up.

"S'not my fault...stupid...aho...mine," he mumbled out.

Everything was fading. His breathing was slowing down and his speech was suffering. Still, he kept on talking to himself.

"That idiot...he prob'ly couldn't even take 'em like I could...."

Slowly, his world faded. And only darkness greeted him. At last, he was getting some relief. He was drifting off, already on the verge of unconsciousness.

"KAGAMICCHI!!"

His last fleeting thought was that he must really be out of it to be hallucinating _Kise_ right now. Then everything went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So,it wasn't as long as the previous chapters, but I think it was the appropriate place to end it. I'll try to update by the end if the month, but no promises.


	9. Chapter 9

Kise was having a great morning. So great, in fact, that he felt like sharing his amazingly awesome morning with his favorite people!

 

            He’d pay a surprise visit to Kagamicchi and call Kurokocchi while he was at it! The three of them would spend their time together and Kise would get to hug and squeeze Kagamicchi as much as he wanted.

 

            Though no longer a five year old, Kagamicchi was no less adorable at nine. And wow was that a weird thought. Not Kagamichhi being adorable—no, never!—but the part where his friend had suddenly aged four years in a day (and let’s not mention how Kagamicchi became a five year old in the first place, that was just too weird to think about).

 

            He hummed cheerfully, making his way towards one of his cars and let his chauffer graciously open the door for him. He thanked the elder man and sat on the plush leather seats.

 

            Kise’s thoughts once again drifted back to Kagamicchi. Sure, the redhead was still adorable, but his demeanor was totally not cute. Five year old Kagamicchi was all blushy and small and so so cheerfully playful. Now though, the recently turned nine year old hardly smiled, barely let Kise hug him (not that it prevented Kise from glomping him anyway), and seemed to glare at everything that moved. It was almost like the older Kagamicchi, the one who only smirked and was gruff and grumpy and called Kise an idiot. But at least he smiled back then, if only barely. This Kagamicchi had all the grumpiness, but no smiles or laughter (now that he thinks about it, Kise had never heard the older Kagamicchi laugh either).

 

            Anyway, Kise thought nine year old Kagamicchi should smile more, and wondered what had changed in the redhead during that period of time he wasn’t with them.

 

            The whole workings of this weird magic thingy that was going on with Kagamicchi still confused Kise, though he was pretty sure he head some of the basic stuff down. Every time Kagamicchi aged, he seemed to go back to his old life, immersed in memories of his past. It seemed like the redhead was reliving his life all over again, though at a much faster rate.

 

            The blond thought back to a conversation he had with Kurokocchi. The shadow had informed him how Kagamicchi confessed to living on the streets during some of his stay in L. A. That had certainly surprised Kise, shocked that one of his friends had had to go through that. Pity for Kagamicchi had filled Kise, making him want to crash into the redhead’s apartment and hug the life out of him while bawling his eyes out.

 

            Though the urge had been strong, Kise had managed to restrain himself. The next time he had seen the redhead, Kise made sure to buy anything Kagamicchi had asked for. Though the nine year old had been confused by Kise’s offer, he had reluctantly accepted once Kise kept on badgering him. And even then Kagamicchi had only asked for a Maji Burger and a small little trinket from an old vendor.

 

            _‘Kagamicchi is so humble~’_ Kise thought adoringly. _‘I’ll make sure to spoil him rotten and buy him as many Maji burgers as he wants and—!’_

 

            Kise’s car screeched to a halt, jostling Kise harshly and forcing his head to smack against the back of the front seat. He groaned and rubbed his forehead, wincing at the sharp sing he felt there.

 

            He looked up from cradling his forehead and was about to demand his driver to tell him what happened, when he noticed that his chauffer wasn’t even in the car. A bit panicked, Kise glanced out his window and saw his driver kneeling some distance away on the sidewalk, huddling over a lump laying on the side of the street.

 

            Feeling worried, the blond got out of the car and jogged towards his driver. The vague lump on the sidewalk slowly started taking form, distressing Kise even more when he started recognizing some shockingly familiar features. His jog turned into a full sprint once his dread reached alarming levels. He couldn’t help himself, his distress being too much to internalize once the figure on the ground finally took shape and confirmed Kise’s fears, he had to yell out, “KAGAMICCHI!!” before collapsing on his knees  next to his driver.

 

            He took note of an alarmingly larger puddle of red liquid—blood—surrounding Kagamicchi’s broken and beaten body. Kise’s eyes widened dramatically, his breath speeding up until all he could feel was himself panicking up to the point of wheezing. Only his driver’s calm words managed to bring back some sense into Kise. “Sir, we need to take this young boy to the nearest hospital. Quickly.”

 

            Kise nodded frantically, observing his driver pick up Kagamicchi and almost lashing out at the older man because of it. He stopped his protective urges though, knowing that all his driver was doing was picking up Kagamicchi in order to get him some much needed medical help. Kise got into the back seat of the car first, allowing his driver to place the badly wounded boy across his lap.

 

            Kise held the redhead gingerly, feeling ears prick at the orners of his eyes.

 

            Kagamicchi looked so broken. Never before had Kise seen someone in this state. So battered and bruised that it was hard to believe that the person was still breathing.

 

            Kise steadied his breathing once the thought of Kagamichhi dying almost sent him into sobs. He shakily ran his hand through bloo matted locks, uncaring of the stains the action left behind. He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone.

 

            He had some calls that needed to be made

 

* * *

 

            Kagami woke up with a start.

 

            His head was pounding and he ached in places he didn’t even know he could ache. The smell of antiseptics irritated his nose, forcing him to open his eyes—only to shut them tight when he was blinded by a bright light. Groaning, he tried to sit up, only for a tug on his wrist and the inside of his elbow to stop him. He squinted his eyes open and blurrily made out needles sticking out from both places he had felt the tugging coming from.

 

            Confusion (and a slight concussion) clouded his mind. Why was he attached to all these things, and why the hell was he in a hospital room?!

 

            He shakily removed the needles from his arms, grunting at the sting and letting out a sigh of relief once they were out. He sat up, slowly this time, and took note of all the bandages that seems to be wrapped around his body.

 

            _‘Oh yeah,’_ he thought a bit dazedly, _‘I was beat up. Real bad.’_

 

            He looked around his bland room and wondered how he had ended up in here. Slowly, he got up from his bed, wincing all the while at the sharp sting in his side. It seemed his ribs weren’t completely healed yet. He hobbled to the door and opened it, his head peaking around the door and looking for someone who could tell him how he arrived here.

 

            It wasn’t long before he spotted the bright blond locks of none other than Kise Ryouta, whom was turning around the corner and heading towards his room. Taking a better look at him, Kagami noted how worn out Kise looked. His clothes were a rumpled mess and his hair resembled a bird’s nest. His normally healthy looking skin was pale, and the bags under his red rimmed eyes looked terrible.

 

            Concerned, Kagami called out to him, “Oi, Kise! Are you alright?”

 

            The blond jerked back so violently Kagami thought he was going to fall over. Kise’s dull eyes sharpened and zero’d in on him, immediately widening once they took in the owner of the voice that had called out to him.

 

            “K-Kagamicchi?” Kise rasped out. Before Kagami could even think of a response, Kise had already sprinted the rest of the way and was suddenly crushing Kagami against his body. Kagami grunted, the harsh hug forcing air out of his lungs and putting pressure on his injured ribs. He felt the blond shake, soft sniffles barely reaching Kagami’s ears.

 

            “Kise? Hey Kise, you’re hugging a little too tight…”  Kagami trailed off, letting the blond hug him a while longer anyway. Soon enough, Kise let go and held him by the shoulders. The red rimming his eyes was even more pronounced, making Kagami slightly uncomfortable. The redhead may be a bit socially inept, but he wasn’t clueless enough to not know why Kise was in this state.

 

            _‘I really worried him didn’t I…’_

Kise opened his mouth, about to say something that would surely make Kagami feel even more uncomfortable, when they heard hurried footsteps and a surprisingly loud , “Kagami-kun!” heading towards them.

 

            Kuroko slid on his knees towards them, clutching on to Kagami’s recently released shoulders. Kuroko didn’t hug him though, probably worried over his injuries.

 

            It was hard to look at Kuroko’s face. His normally collected features left behind all pretenses and instead morphed into one of painful relief and great concern. “Kagami-kun, what’re you doing out of bed? You’re too injured to be moving around. Please, get back to bed. Here, let me help you.”

 

            Any thought of protesting vanished at Kuroko’s careful ministrations. Kise followed behind them, unusually quiet and solemn. Kagami soon was reclining against his raised bed. He fidgeted, not knowing what to say.

 

            “Kagamicchi, could you tell us how you…ended up like this?” Kise’s soft voice broke through the silence. The blond looked inquisitive and kind of….mad?

 

            “Uh…well you see…”

 

            “We should wait until the others are here. That way Kagami-kun doesn’t have to repeat his story.”

 

            Kise nodded, leaning back against the wall nearest to Kagami’s bed. Kuroko sat at the edge of Kagami’s bed and texted what Kagami presumed to be the others. Once he was done, they waited.

 

            And waited.

 

            And waited even more.

 

            Just when Kagami felt like he was going to drown in the tense atmosphere, the door to his room slammed open.

 

            And wow, Kagami had never seen Aomine so pissed before. Sure, he’d seen him aggravated and frustrated and a whole other set of synonyms to that word, but never actually, genuinely _pissed_.

 

            His features were contorted in an ugly mask of fury, his eyes darkening so much that all Kagami could detect was black instead of the usual blue. Kagami wondered if that ire was directed at him. At that thought, Kagami’s aggravation rose. How was it his fault that he got beat up and left for dead?!

 

            Catching sight of Kagami’s irritated glare, Aomine seemed to calm down, if only marginally. He walked into the room, followed by the rest of the fruit loops. Akashi walked in with a quiet dignity that belayed that slight ire he felt. Though not outwardly showing it, Kagami could feel how the atmosphere got even worse when he walked in.

 

            Slowly trudging behind, Murasakibara eventually walked in, his fists clenched around a bag of chips. Midorima soon followed, a paper fan clutched in his grasp. Momoi came in a few feet behind, her eyes watering at the sight of him. Kagami uncomfortably looked away.

 

            Seirin burst in a few minutes later, all of them assembling around him and hounding him with questions and concerns and just generally being really loud. Kuroko managed to convince them to back up and quiet down, all of them finding a spot to lean against or sit on. All in all, his already small hospital room was made even smaller.

 

            Now that they were all assembled, Kagami could practically taste the anger in the air. Again, Kagami wondered if they were all mad at him. What the hell, he almost bled out and this is how they’re reacting?!

 

            Though, he had to admit that Kise’s and Kuroko’s concern were glaring enough for him to reconsider that thought.

 

            “Taiga, I’m glad you’re awake,” Akashi began, startling Kagami out of his musings. He looked up at the two identical colored eyes. He nodded at him, acknowledging his concern.

 

            “I hope this isn’t an inconvenience to you, but would you mind telling us how you ended up in this state.” This clearly wasn’t a request, that much Kagami could garner. He gulped when the redhead noticed how one of Akashi’s eyes was slowly changing to a golden color.

 

            Kagami nodded and took a deep breath.

 

            “For the record, it totally wasn’t my fault.” The twitching faces in front of him made Kagami chuckle nervously.

 

            “Hah…anyway, so this happened…”

 

* * *

 

 

            After having heard Kagami describe his story, Aomine couldn’t have felt more pissed if he tried. And fond. Just a little.

 

            Only Kagami would pull such a stupid stunt, and all to help a girl he didn’t even know. Granted, Aomine might’ve done something similar, but fuck that. Kagami was fucking nine! He shouldn’t be pulling shit like this in order to save a stranger!

 

            And despite the miniscule amount of fondness he might have felt ( _might have_ , because Aomine would rather walk into a room full of bees before admitting to even feeling anything other than annoyance towards Kagami), his anger overshadowed that feeling.

 

            _‘Those bastards…’_ Aomine swore right there and then that if he ever bumped into the shitheads that did this to Kagami, he’d rip their fucking heads off.

 

            Aomine wasn’t even going to bother fighting that thought away. He’d sort of made peace with his protectiveness over the small redhead. So what if the guy completely annoyed the shit out of him? He wasn’t going to stand for his friends (yes, friend! Aomine had managed to make peace with that realization as well ‘cause fuck if he was going to be stupid over this when Kagami was comatose) being beat to death. Almost death.

 

            That was enough to send Aomine over the metaphorical edge. He hasn’t felt this pissed off since he punched that bastard Haizaki. He could tell he wasn’t the only one feeling this way too. Even Midorima, stoic and having the social aptitude of a potato, was seen crushing the paper fan in his grip.

 

            “So uh, yeah. Last thing I remember was hearing Kise yelling my name.” Kagami looked towards Kise, smiling the first genuine smile since he turned nine. “Thanks for basically saving my life.”

 

            Kise spluttered, his face flushing unbearably, all anger previously swirling within vanishing in an instant. Kise’s eyes teared up dramatically, his blush intensifying the longer he stared at Kagami.

 

            “Kagamicchi!” Kise wailed, launching himself at the redhead, no doubt intending on smothering him to death. A spark of irritation caused Aomine to grip the back of the model’s shirt and yank him back before he crushed Kagami. “Idiot, you could’ve injured him even more!”

 

            Kise’s blubbering apologies went ignored. Aomine opted to stare back at Kagami, receiving a grateful nod in return. The whole scene managed to break the tense atmosphere, some even chuckling slightly. Seirin crowded around Kagami again, giving him pats of the back or ruffling his hair. Only the coach and that tall center gave in to their urges and hugged Kagami gingerly.

 

            Once all the commotion was over, all the people in the room chatted amongst themselves, not even contemplating leaving. Small talk was made and even laughter was heard every now and then. All in all, the atmosphere was much lighter than it was before.

 

            Aomine felt himself relaxing, finally feeling that everything was going to be alright again.

 

            “Um…guys?”

 

            The chatter stopped, heads tuning to pay attention to the owner of the voice.

 

            Kagami fidgeted on his bed, griping the sheets tightly and looking around uncertainly. Once he noticed that everyone’s attention was on him, Kagami shrank back a bit before seeming to steel himself.

 

            “I uh, after…after what happened, I realized that I almost, you know, I almost didn’t make it…” Some people tensed at the reminder, including Aomine. The mood once again turned solemn.

 

            Kagami continued, “And well, because of that I also realized that I really c-care about—ugh, damn it—you g-guys and consider you all my…f-friends.”

 

            Small blushes were seen on the majority of the crowd, Aomine trying to not so discreetly hide is warming face—and failing, if Tetsu’s amused gaze was anything to go by.

 

            Kagami cleared his throat harshly. “Anyway! I just wanted to let you guys know and I’ve decided that, as my friends, you guys should know how I ended up on the streets.”

 

            By now, everyone was paying rapt attention. Admittedly, Aomine was curious as well, having been wondering about that himself.

 

            “I know that some of you have been wondering about that,” he glanced pointedly at several people, “so I’ll tell you.”

 

            He took a deep breath. “When I was five years old, my mom and I left to the States. We moved to L. A. and rented a small apartment. Mom had a better paying job, so we could afford more things. We were both happier with our lives in America. We thought our lives were only going to get better from here on out.”

 

            Kagami paused. He visibly hesitated, trying to formulate words. Kuroko laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder, enabling Kagami to continue.

 

            “One night, mom was out on a date. I was capable of taking care of myself by then, so she left me by myself. When she didn’t come back at the time she said she was going to, I got worried so I called her. She wouldn’t answer her phone, no matter how many times I tried calling her. Eventually, I decided to wait in the living room for her.”

 

            “I don’t remember falling asleep, but I was awoken later by pounding on my door. Before I could get up to open it though, the door slammed open. It was the police. They came into my house, along with a woman I didn’t know, and told me that…” Kagami swallowed harshly, “they told me that my mom was involved in an accident.”

 

            All at once, it seemed like everyone’s heartbeats stopped, the horrible realization coming to light in everyone’s mind.

 

            Kagami wiped his eyes furiously before continuing. “The lady that was there with the cops told me she was going to take me to an orphanage. And like hell I was going to be taken to an orphanage.”

 

            Receiving some questioning looks, Kagami answered them, “That place was hell. I used to talk to some runaway kids. They told me all sorts of horror stories about that place. I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to submit myself to that hell, and so I ran away. The cops chased me for a bit, but they gave up eventually. I could outrun them, so it was no problem. Ever since then I’ve been on the streets, wondering if my mom was actually dead and when I was going to get my next meal.”

 

            “Anyway, you guys know the rest. I somehow ended up here without any idea as to how to go back. Not that I want to, but you guys have got to admit that this is pretty bizarre.”

 

            Finishing his tale, Kagami stared at his crown expectantly, waiting for them to say something.

 

            The first one to react was Akashi, surprisingly. He stood from his chair at the corner of the room and made his way towards Kagami. His impassive eyes were unsettling. Though no longer threatening to turn gold, his stare was just as unnerving.

 

            Once Akashi stopped at Kagami’s side, he gave the redhead a look Kagami could only describe as sympathetic. Then, shocking everyone on the room, Akashi leaned down and gingerly hugged Kagami.

 

            Kagami, for his part, could only stay still and try and comprehend what the actual fuck was going on right now.

 

            Hesitantly, Kagami returned the hug. His short arms barely managing to go around the taller redhead. Akashi, satisfied at having been hugged back, soon let go and placed a hand on Kagami’s shoulder. Akashi said nothing after that, simply giving his shoulder a squeeze before retreating back to his chair.

 

            Kagami got the feeling that Akashi was more than trying to comfort him. He wasn’t going to comment on it though, feeling that Akashi wouldn’t want to answer his questions in front of all these people.

 

            Like a chain reaction, soon people were hugging him and crying. Momoi in particular was really loud. She sobbed into his shoulder, proclaiming that she’d never allow him to go back to that state of living. Murasakibara gave him so many snacks, Kagami didn’t think he could ever finish them. Midorima awkwardly placed a bandage in his hand, proclaiming that it was his lucky item of the day and in no way or form did this mean he cared for him!

 

            Kuroko wouldn’t stop pestering Kagami with questions, fretting and buzzing around him like and overly concerned mother. Kise was acting much the same way, only more annoying. He was also hugging him. A lot.

 

            Aomine grunted in annoyance, pushing Kise out of the way and plumping himself down next to the injured redhead. He ignored Kise’s cries of protest and pressed his shoulder against Kagami’s. The redhead looked surprised, but soon enough seems to accept this new turn of events. Tetsu raised an eyebrow, making it clear that he knew exactly what Aomine was doing. The tan teen harrumphed, crossing his arms and ignoring any looks he as getting.

 

            It didn’t matter how weird it all seemed. Kagami was comfortable and that was ll that mattered. Aomine got cozy and leaned back, listening to the chatter going on around him.

 

            _‘_ Now _I can relax,’_ he thought. _‘No more drama.’_

Of course, we all know that at this point, the universe loved to prove Aomine wrong.

 

            Not long after Aomine had relaxed, did Kagami begin to glow again.

 

            The redhead startled, observing his glowing hands and body in awe. Everyone noticed too, most of them with dread, remembering what had happened last time.

 

            Some backed away, expecting the scorching heat that had assaulted them to come back with avengence and roast them. Literally.

 

            Aomine slowly stood up, watching as the redhead increased in brilliance. Kagami had stopped observing himself and turned to Kuroko.

 

            “What’s going to happen now?” Kagami asked.

 

            Kuroko looked at him sadly. “Kagami-kun…you’ll probably go back to where you came from.”

 

            Momoi gasped in despair. She had just promised the kid that she wouldn’t let him go back to his previous life style! She couldn’t break that promise, and so quickly to boot.

 

            “Oh…” Kagami sighed, “I guess I’ll be going back to L. A. now.”

 

            Kiyoshi’s lower lip started to tremble. “Kagami…we’ll miss you.”

 

            Kagami looked at all the people assembled before him. They were all here for him they were all his friends. He would miss them dearly.

 

            _‘Great, and just when I was ready to open up to them…’_ Kagami sighed again. Besides getting brighter, he could feel some heat beginning to scorch him. He shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the collar of his hospital gown.

 

            Aomine noticed this. He slowly placed a hand in Kagami’c locks. Wincing, he disregarded the heat and ruffled the redhead’s hair. Kagami looked up at him, a small smirk gracing his features.

 

            The tall teen wasn’t sure how to feel about this. He’d just admitted to himself that Kagami was his friend and that he could feel concern over him. Now he was leaving back to his old life (although that’s not what was really going to happen, Kagami was just going to gain a few years again) and probably had to go back to living in the streets again.

 

            The blue-haired teen dropped his hand and clenched it into a tight fist.

 

            Kagami looked up at the rest of his friends. The heat was almost unbearable at this point. He was barely managing to no curl up in fetal position. The light that was shining from within him was so bright now, almost making him unable to see the faces of his friends. The redhead took in a deep breath.

 

            “Thanks for being my friends. I’ll…miss you guys a lot.” Kagami gave them one last blinding smile.

 

            And then the light went out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:…….sorry? Please don’t kill me. I know it’s been a while, and honestly, I had this chapter finished months ago, but I never got around to posting it. Here you have it though, hope you enjoyed it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

_“Hey dad, I’m back.”_

_A man with brown hair and a gentle smile looked up from his newspaper. “Hey Taiga. How was your practice with Tatsuya?” He folded the newspaper and placed it aside, giving his son his undivided attention._

_Kagami wiped some sweat from his forehead, giving the man sitting at the table a bright grin. “It was great! You wouldn’t believe what moves we were pulling, dad! With Alex teaching us, we’ll be pros in no time!”_

_The man chuckled and stood up. He went up to his son and fondly ruffled those red locks. “I’m sure you will Taiga. If you keep at it like this, there’s no way you won’t become a pro.” He pulled his hand away and inspected it. He grimaced and wiped the sweat he had accidentally drenched his hand in on Kagami’s shirt. Kagami gave an indignant squawk._

_“Go shower, you stink.”_

_Kagami stuck his tongue out before speeding out of there. “If you hurry, we can catch the game! I’l order some pizza!” The man yelled after him._

_He heard a loud ‘whoop!’ before a door slammed closed and a shower started running. He shook his head in amusement and went ahead and ordered three large pizzas. He vaguely wondered when his son started being capable of eating two whole pizzas. ‘_ At least Taiga keeps active,’ _he thought._

_Almost two hours later, they found themselves turning in after watching an intense basketball match and splurging on pizza. Father and son went their separate ways, bidding each other goodnight._

_Kagami yawned, tears appearing on the corners of his eyes, as he settled under his comforter. He shifted around until he was comfortable and finally settled in a few minutes later. He let his thoughts drift, absently thinking of basketball and how much he enjoyed it. A small smile appeared on his face when he thought back to the people who taught him the sport._

_He wondered if he was going to see them soon, or if he had to wait until he grew up so that he could meet them in the future. It didn’t really matter when, as long as he gets to see them again._

_He gave one last yawn before finally drifting to sleep._

* * *

            Kagami slowly came to awareness. He grunted, feeling uncomfortable. His clothing felt restrictive, his bed too small, and his room smelled like a mix of bleach and medicine for some reason. He contemplated ignoring all of this and simply going back to sleep again, but that thought was thrown out the window when he heard a voice he hadn’t heard in ages.

 

            “Kagami-kun?”

 

            Kagami forcibly pulled himself out of the dredges of sleep. He snapped his eyes open and then they widened considerably once he caught sight of who had spoken to him. _‘No way am I back here....’_

“Kuroko?!” he exclaimed disbelievingly.

 

            The person in question gave him a small smile, which, if he remembered correctly, was Kuroko’s way of beaming. Looking around, he saw many familiar faces. Still a bit numb with shock, he didn’t really register when every person at once started talking.

 

            “Kagamin! Oh my god, are you okay?!”

 

            “Stupid Bakagami, this is the second time you scare us like this! Do you wanna die? Huh?!”

 

            “Coach please…”

 

            “Mitobe look at him! He grew a bit more!”

 

            “...”

 

            “Kagamicchi you’re alive!!”

 

            “Of course he’s alive, idiot. We knew he would be coming back. Don’t be so dramatic, nanodayo.”

 

            “Mou, you’re so mean Midorimacchi…”

 

            “Mido-chin isn’t mean. He’s saying the truth.”

 

            “You too Murasakibaracchi?!!”

 

            “Now now, let’s hold off on the mean comments, okay?”

 

            “Tch, Kiyoshi…”

 

            “Enough. We’re overwhelming Taiga.” After Akashi spoke, everyone seemed to take notice of the uncharacteristic silence emanating from the usually fiery redhead.

 

            Kagami finally snapped out of it after he felt the pressure of every pair of eyes focused on him. He shifted a bit, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention. He nervously scratched the back of his head before finally speaking again. “...hi?”

 

            There was complete silence for a beat before some started chuckling quietly and others saying hi back to him. Momoi, Kise, Kiyoshi, and Coach greeted him with tight hugs. Kagami blushed a bit, embarrassed for saying something so brainless and for having all these people hug him. He felt a finger poke his cheek, right where you could see the reddening, and turned towards the owner of said finger.

 

            He met Kuroko’s light blue eyes. “Kagami-kun, I’m glad you’re back.”

 

            Kagami grinned, finally feeling himself relax. “Yeah. It’s nice to be back.” The redhead kept on smiling at Kuroko until he felt a brooding presence to his left. Having not looked in that direction yet, Kagami finally turned to look at who was giving off such an unpleasant vibe.

 

            Midnight blue hair is the first thing he noticed. Then came the darkly tanned skin, and from there glaring dark blue eyes. Kagami quirked an eyebrow at Aomine’s intense stare. Feeling a bit devious, he smirked at him before cheekily saying, “What? You’re not gonna hug me, are you?” Aomine’s eyes widened before he scoffed, turning his head away from him.

 

            “As if. I’ll probably catch something. Who knows where you’ve been.”

 

            Kagami barked out laughter, feeling slightly offended but also kind of relieved. Everything was the way it used to be. Even Aomine and his horrid personality.

 

            After a while, everyone seemed to calm down a bit. It wasn’t long after that when the questions started.

 

            “Kagami, how old are you?”

 

            “I’m thirteen now.”

 

            “Wow Kagami, you’ve grown up so fast!”

 

            “Yeah! It’s almost like you were nine not even a day ago!”

 

            “...shut up Koga.”

 

            “Wait, I remember where we’re at now. This is the hospital I woke up in after getting beat up, right?”

 

            The atmosphere seemed to sour right after Kagami said that. Kagami guiltily looked around, feeling bad for killing the mood. He forgot that for them, this had just happened. They weren’t almost over it like Kagami was, who had years to look back to this day and somehow be okay with bringing it up.

 

            Kagami readied himself to apologize. “Guys I’m--”

 

            There was a knock on the door. “Hello?” Knock Knock. “This is nurse Yumi. I’m here to take a look at the patient.”

 

            There was a second where everyone seemed to panic. They couldn’t let her in here, what would they say when she saw Kagami definitely wasn’t the five year old that was put in here? No one could come up with an answer fast enough, leaving some people (most of Seirin and Kise) literally flailing around in a panic and running in circles.

 

            “Hello? I’m coming in.” Everyone froze their flailing, watching the door open as if in slow motion. The door opened agonizingly slow, almost making Kise faint from the suspense of it all. Finally, the door opened fully and everyone resigned themselves to the inevitable. They were doomed, there was no way out of this one.

 

            “Um, excuse me? Where is the patient at?”

 

            That got everyone’s attention. Looking at the bed, they noticed a certain redhead was missing. When no one answered right away, the nurse turned to the person nearest to her and asked, “Well? Where is he?” That person happened to be Furihata, who tried stuttering out a believable lie.

 

            “W-Well you s-see what happened i-is t-that, t-that umm, w-well…”

 

            Thankfully, Akashi stepped in to save the day. “Excuse me, Yumi-san? Taiga went to the restroom.”

 

            The nurse looked at him suspiciously. “Oh yeah? You mean the restroom right here?” She pointed to an opened door adjacent to the bed, which showed an empty restroom. Akashi simply smiled benevolently, “Taiga didn’t want to go to this restroom. He said he felt awkward going when there were so many people in this room that could hear him. He went to the one on the other side of this floor.”

 

            The nurse gave him one last suspicious look before seeming appeased. “Okay then, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She turned on her heel and exited the room. When the door closed behind her, the room seemed to give a collective sigh of relief.

 

            “Nice save there Akashicchi! I thought we were going to get caught for sure.”

 

            “It’s no problem Ryouta. Now,” he turned to the bed, “where’s Taiga at?”

 

            No one knew the answer to that question. “Maybe he’s under the bed?” Fukuda suggested. Kuroko, who was next to the bed, checked under but found nothing.

 

            “Where else could he have gone?” Riko asked.

 

            Looking around the room, everyone’s gazes seemed inexplicably drawn to the lone window in the room.

 

            “Hey Hyuga, I could’ve sworn that window wasn’t open before…”

 

            Hyuga looked incredulous. “No way, he wouldn’t…”

 

            Everyone who was present for the second age transformation flashed back to Kagami ruthlessly punching his teammates in the gut. Aomine in particular flashed back to Kagami leading away three grown ass men from a ramen stand, to him launching himself off a stupid swing, and to the redhead readying himself to stupidly fight a group of older kids by himself.

 

            “....he would.” Aomine finished off.

 

            Kuroko rushed to the window’s edge and stuck his whole head out of it. Everyone else followed as well, trying to bunch up as much as possible in order to get a good look. What they saw made most of them pale in concern.

 

            “Kagami you idiot! What do you think you’re doing?!” yelled a scandalized Hyuga.

 

            Kagami looked up at them. “Uh...hey guys.”

 

            “Don’t you ‘hey guys’ us, Bakagami! Get up here right now! You could fall, you moron!”

 

            Kagami looked down at the ground. It wasn’t _that_ high up. They were only on the second floor. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to slip. He had this under control.

 

            Unfortunately, to the rest it looked like he was barely holding onto the ledge between the second and first floor. Kagami’s legs were hanging uselessly while his arms were the only thing keeping him up. “Kagami-kun, please come back up here. You’re going to get hurt.”

 

            Kagami looked up at Kuroko’s concerned eyes. “But I’m fine! Look, let me just adjust my hold real quick…” Kagami then proceeded to recklessly twist around, no doubt increasing his chances of letting go of the ledge. “Kagamicchi! Please stop moving around so much! Just stay still and Murasakibaracchi will reach you!”

 

           The girls, plus Kise, gave a small shriek when Kagami, heedless of their requests, let go of the ledge and safely landed on bush. He rolled out of it and shook off any leaves and twigs stuck to his clothes. Once done, he looked up at his friends and waved. “See? I told you guys I had it under control. Now come on down here, I think the nurse should be going to the room soon. Besides…”

 

           Kagami turned to a small crowd of spectators that had gathered across the street. They were pointing at the window and their camera flashes were directed at Kagami himself.

 

           “....I think we really need to get out of here.”

 

           Kuroko composed himself quickly. He’d lecture Kagami-kun later, right now they all needed to get out of here. “Let’s go everyone, we need to leave as soon as possible.” He started pushing people away from the window and leading them out the door.

 

         

           He turned to look out the window. “Kagami-kun, please hide somewhere. We’ll meet you down there soon.” Kagami-kun gave him a thumbs up and scampered up a nearby by tree.

 

           Turning away, he quickly ushered everyone else out the room and followed after them. Despite feeling like he almost passed out from having seen Kagami-kun drop like that, Kuroko couldn’t help but feel just the slightest bit fond of his best friend’s antics.

 

_‘I’m glad you’re back Kagami-kun. It looks like you became a happier person_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks*..........hey guys. Um, it’s been awhile, huh? I am so sorry about that. I kinda lost motivation for this story a while ago. Then I got a job and life kinda took over so...yeah. I know these are all excuses but, well, yeah that’s all I can offer. And this chapter. I can offer this chapter. Which, I know, is not long. Heck, it’s way too short. But I feel like if I’m going to get back into this, I need to take it nice and easy. 
> 
> So yeah, there’s probably going to be two or three more short chapters before I’m back to my usual length of writing. Again, I’m really sorry for the extremely long wait. You guys had to wait so long for this piece of crap chapter. I know it isn’t good, but I had to get this out of my system so that I could go back to easily writing this stuff out.
> 
> Thanks for waiting so long, I really appreciate you guys.


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